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Low-energy X-ray inspection technology said to produce fast, highly-detailed images of food products and packaged goods while still on the production line. Siobhan Wagner reports
AN X-ray inspection technology using low-energy radiation can produce fast, highly-detailed images of food products and packaged goods while still on the production line, one of its European developers claims. The images are then scanned with inspection software that can automatically detect irregularities.
The technology, which is the result of the EU-funded Modulinspex project, was led by Innospexion of Denmark, with partners Zenon, Cavendish Instruments, Detectronic, AJAT and the University of Latvia.
Until now food producers have used high-energy X-ray technology similar to that used to scan luggage at airports. While these systems can find a tiny pebble in a package, they lack the resolution to image such things as a grain of sand in a bag of flour.
Low-energy X-ray...