A metal detector on the line is reassuring. It is also narrower than most buyers assume.
Metal detection finds ferrous, non-ferrous, and sometimes stainless contamination, depending on the aperture and the product effect. It does not find stone, glass, dense plastic, or bone. For a product like pitted fruit, that gap is the one that matters.
X-ray inspection covers those denser contaminants and can also check fill level and count, which is why some buyers of stone fruit and some retail programs ask for it. It costs more, needs trained interpretation, and has its own limits on small or low-density items.
Neither technology fixes an upstream problem. Both are verification steps sitting downstream of the real controls: supplier approval, blade and equipment condition, and the physical checks at the line.
A certificate that says a detector exists says nothing about whether the CCP is validated, monitored, and verified on the schedule it claims.
At NewsourceFoods, we discuss which inspection step fits the product and the destination market before the specification is fixed, rather than adding a detector to the diagram and calling it control. We supply IQF product with OEM and ODM support and operate under ISO, HACCP, BRC, IFS, KOSHER, and HALAL.
If you are reviewing a supplier’s hazard analysis, ask which hazards that detector is there to catch. The answer tells you whether the control was designed or copied.
NewsourceFoods ｜ yulian@qdnewsource.com ｜ Tel / WhatsApp: 0086 13687623173
