Foreign matter has no place in food – and yet undesired contamination makes its way into production processes time and time again. Failing to detect them in good time runs the risk of product recalls, causing unquantifiable damage to a company’s reputation.

Such contamination often comes from fragments of machine parts, such as handling elements, tools or containers. If these parts are very small, they often go unnoticed – at least by conventional means.

With this in mind, Ganter has established a new line of standard parts made of plastic that are easy to detect – even in pasty and opaque media. This is where Ganter relies on visual and metallic detectability. With the appropriate sensors, both options can be used automatically, thus significantly increasing product safety.

The VD (visually detectable) standard parts are made of solid-colored blue plastic. Blue because it is a color that does not appear in food, making it very easy to recognize, both to the human eye and for camera-based monitoring systems. The color blue also makes it easier to detect food (or other product) residue in places where it shouldn’t be.

MD (metal detectable) standard parts are also made of blue plastic but contain additional additives with iron oxide. These, in turn, can be reliably detected with metal sensors at a particle volume of 0.125 cm³ and up if visual detectability is not enough.

Incidentally, metal detectability has long been used in a completely different context with great success. For instance, this feature is used in the feeding of sprue grinders in the injection molding process to prevent unwanted metal parts like injection bushings from getting in.

Our range of detectable standard parts includes knobs, cabinet U-handles, hinges, hand levers and three-lobe knobs. What they all have in common is not only their blue color but also that they are made of FDA-compliant plastic granulates (FDA CFR.21 and EU 10/2011). This means they can be used in both the food and pharmaceutical industries without reservation.

More information on Ganter standard parts can be found on the internet at www.ganternorm.com