In food production, the drive for smart manufacturing and stricter food & safety compliance increase in parallel. To understand how product inspection technology is evolving to support the production lines of tomorrow, our editor interviewed Ann-Kathrin Kuehle, Industry Insights Manager at Mettler Toledo.
As consumers, when we purchase a product, we trust we’re getting what’s on the label and that the product is of an acceptable and consistent standard. In Food Processing in particular, this trust is underpinned by an evolving architecture of regulation, technology and industry best-practice.
Food manufacturers operate under increasingly demanding compliance and traceability requirements. Fortunately, detection and inspection technology continue to evolve to support them.
Mettler Toledo provide cutting-edge product inspection solutions designed for the specific challenges faced by the diverse array of industries it serves, including food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical production.
At Interpack in Düsseldorf, May, attendees queued to see Mettler Toledo’s latest product inspection technology in action. Among the technologies on display, the new M50 R-Series AdvancedLine Metal Detector and X56 DXD+ dual energy photon-counting x-ray inspection system proved to be particularly popular. Both were released earlier this year and feature the latest detection innovations.
Ahead of our Food Processing-focused September edition, our editor got the opportunity to speak with Ann-Kathrin Kuehle (Anne), Industry Insights Manager at Mettler Toledo, who shared her insights in food safety and product inspection.
AI-enhanced inspection
Addressing some of the challenges inherent in product inspection, Anne explained that there are combinations of different characteristics that contribute to certain foreign bodies being more difficult to detect than others.
“Small contaminants can be difficult to detect, but also those with a low density or very similar to the product itself,” she said. The position of the contaminant can also play a role, as can the packaging material. For these challenges, X-ray inspection is often the right solution.
“When it comes to X-ray inspection in general,” she continued, “low-density materials such as plastic or rubber are challenging, and for this we have a new photon-counting technology, which is really useful to detect low density or hard to separate foreign bodies.”
The company’s newest X-ray solution, the X56 DXD+, has increased sensitivity to overcome these challenges. Its advanced photon-counting technology has been enhanced with AI, making it more suited to the detection of low density or hard to separate foreign bodies, mitigating unnecessary product rejection in quality inspection.
In the new M50 R-Series, AI-based machine learning is combined with 3S PLUS algorithm.
However, metal detection offers a different challenge, as the product itself can create a signal that can mask that of the foreign bodies they are attempting to detect. This is known as “product effect”, which is common in high moisture, salty, or highly conductive products.
“AI-based machine learning is used to reduce the active product signal to deliver the highest sensitivity, which also leads to greater detection accuracy,” she continued. This has helped them to “virtually eliminate false rejects.”
EPR and sustainability
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations officially came into full effect in January 2025, with the enforcement phase beginning in October 2025. It adds yet another dimension to manufacturers’ compliance duties.
Offering advice to those businesses affected, Anne said: “Manufacturers should see this like a strategic, cross functional program and not just a compliance box ticking exercise.” The first step, she explained, is to identify the products and packaging streams are subject to EPR. The next step is to build-in traceability and data infrastructure. “And when it comes to products,” she continued, “Manufacturers may need to consider redesigning their packaging with EPR in mind.”
Of course, this all about the bigger picture: sustainability. Something which Mettler Toledo take very seriously, as Anne highlighted: “We have a sustainability programme in place, which is called GreenMT.” Its focus is to reduce waste and packaging, shift towards recyclable materials and cut operational emissions. “We have now been carbon neutral for five years running and have have received CDP Climate Change A rating,” she revealed.
Automated testing
Mettler Toledo has embraced automation testing method, and Anne explained how it has improved the efficiency and reliability of the technologies. To support the M50 R-Series, Mettler Toledo launched a new electronic test system called INFINITY. She described how, prior to this, the machines were tested manually using test pieces in a disruptive and time-consuming process.
“You have to test it where it is least sensitive, and this is the centre of the machine. A manual process for which you need to stop your line,” she explained. “But with INFINITY, our electronic testing method, you don’t need to stop the line and you also don’t need to get an operator involved because it does the testing automatically.” This method doesn’t require actual test pieces, either.
The benefit of automating inspection goes beyond efficiency and mitigating downtime, as Anne went on to illustrate with the automatic testing system (ATS), designed for gravity fall (aka gravity fed) and throat metal detectors.
“So, to test those kind of metal detectors, you need to have an operator step on a ladder to work at height and put the test pieces into the gravity fall or throat metal detector. And from there, the operator also needs to reach the centre, and this can become quite difficult and also dangerous. With ATS, this is not necessary anymore, and it takes around 45 seconds.”
With every dangerous manual test or inspection process that is automated, the safety of the operators working in these often-challenging environments is strengthened.
Proactive, data-driven inspection
The design of the company’s technology is driven by its customers. “We listen to them to really understand what their challenges are. And this is considered when we develop our new solutions and systems, and we also see what’s happening in the food safety compliance,” Anne said. Part of her role is to lead strategic market research projects and speak with customers and food industry organisations. This also involves looking for what’s on the horizon for the industry.
“We believe that food inspection will move more away from reactive checks to really predictive, data driven end-to-end oversight across the whole supply chain. We expect to see even tighter regulation, more digitalisation, also greater use of AI and automation. But this also comes with more pressure to demonstrate transparency and sustainability,” she concluded.
To see the technologies described here demonstrated, visit Mettler Toledo on Stand D84 this September at the PPMA Show®.
