Star Wars heroes without contamination

R2D2, Darth Vader and more: the British sweets manufacturer Kinnerton inspects its chocolate figures using new Mettler-Toledo metal detection and X-ray inspection equipment. The user benefits from high detection sensitivity and a very low amount of false rejects.

Focusing on a year-round business rather than a seasonal one, Kinnerton boosted its production capacity in its plant in Sherburn-in-Elment by almost four times and extended its product range massively. To meet the needs of the additional production volume, the chocolate manufacturer decided to revise its quality concept radically. Today, Mettler-Toledo’s T Series gravity fall metal detector systems and an X33 X-ray system make sure that chocolate figures of world’s best known license brands and other products are free from metal particles and in perfect shape.
Designed for use in vertical packaging applications, Kinnerton installed the T Series metal detectors on three bagging lines. The inspection process takes part prior to insertion into sealed packs, making this metal detection method also ideal for ver­tical packaging applications where metalized film is used. It detects all metal contaminants within an accuracy of less than 0.5 mm, including ferrous metals, non-magnetic stainless steel and non-ferrous metal enclosing aluminium. The metal detectors can be integrated into production lines where vertical space is limited without compromising sensitivity performance.

More freedom concerning packaging options

Thanks to compact design, it reduces drop heights to minimize the risk of product damage. Thus, even sensitive products like chocolate-coated sweets can be checked for metal contaminants in free fall before the packaging process without chipping caused by the impact. Kinnerton’s management state that the company decided on a solution which allows upstream foreign body detection and therefore offers much more freedom concerning packaging options. Looking at the metal detection solution Kinnerton used before, it was not possible to use sweet wrappers with aluminium. Also at the time, product launches took a preparation and adjustment time of several days or even several weeks.
When deciding to invest into new technology, Kinnerton already had new product ideas in mind where conventional metal detection for maintaining the product integrity is insufficient. The company decided to implement a superior X33 X-ray system into its production line. The management were convinced by the outstanding contamination detection capabilities that can be achieved utilizing a 20 W X-ray generator, whilst providing a significant reduction in power consumption in comparison to many other X-ray systems on the market. The chocolate manufacturer first conducted tests with chocolate balls wrapped in aluminium coated foil that are packed into small net bags. The result: the X33 X-ray system inspected up to 80 net bags filled with chocolate balls per minute. High detection sensitivity and the very low amount of false rejects were convincing. Today, the system works as a Critical Control Point (CCP) at the end of Kinnerton’s production line. •