The Bury Black Pudding Company has embraced the latest developments in product inspection technology to protect its reputation as demand for its products increases.
The company manufactures and sells high-quality black puddings, serving the UK and international food markets.
The Black Pudding Company’s managing director Debbie Pierce says: “We are a growing local business and employ many local people. As the only black pudding manufacturer based in Bury, England, we consider ourselves to be the custodians of this great northern delicacy. Our black pudding is a very traditional product, one that is a part of our town’s heritage, and we take this responsibility very seriously.”
Using a family recipe that dates back more than 100 years, the award-winning company vigorously protects its reputation for high quality and consistent taste.
As a British Retail Consortium (BRC) ‘A Star’ certified manufacturer selling to major supermarkets, speciality retailers, and restaurants, it is essential that the company’s equipment also complies with the very latest global food safety standards.
Mettler Toledo’s product inspection technology plays a key role in the process by ensuring all the black puddings produced are free of metal contaminants, safeguarding the welfare of the consumer and the business.
The Black Pudding Company’s marketing manager Peter Winkler said: “As the UK’s market leading producer of black puddings in clipped sleeve and traditional, natural skin formats, we are very keen to ensure the product we send out is of the highest possible quality.
“Mettler Toledo Safeline metal detectors help us protect our brand, increase our productivity and maintain high quality standards which are essential for keeping our BRC ‘A Star’ standard.”
Evolving inspection requirements
The Bury Black Pudding Company’s first experience with Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection was a HDS metal detection system, which was specified to check clipped black and white pudding products prior to filling.
High levels of detection sensitivity and equipment stability, combined with ease-of-use, allowed the HDS solution to be fully integrated with the existing Handtmann vacuum filling machine on the production line.
The HDS system can be fully stripped down and is sealed to IP69K, making it ideal for the harsh washdown conditions that it is subjected to during each product changeover.
Increasing demand to supply trade customers with traditional black pudding rings led the company to build a brand new production line specifically for these products. Unlike the smaller, vacuum-filled clipped sleeve products, the traditional pudding rings needed to be inspected after final packaging.
The company also had a need to inspect frozen products to meet the demands of new export customers. Both size and frozen state characteristics can present a potential challenge for traditional metal detection technology due to a phenomenon called product effect.
Product effect occurs when the product’s own characteristics inhibit the ability of the product inspection equipment to perform optimally. Products that are wet, hot, chilled, cooling, or packed in metallised film exhibit product effect, so inspection by a metal detector can prove challenging.
However, using multi-simultaneous frequency and product signal suppression technology, Mettler Toledo’s Profile Advantage system is able to overcome product effect. It can detect irregular shaped metal contaminants up to 50% smaller in such challenging applications, making it an ideal choice for food manufacturers in a variety of sector applications.
Production director at The Bury Black Pudding Company Richard Morris says: “We are really impressed with the Profile Advantage system.
“It just works. Product changeovers are quick and simple. It’s very reliable and easy to use.”
Meeting retailer expectations
The Profile Advantage metal detection system incorporates a large pusher style reject device, lockable reject bin, and customised tunnel guards. These, along with a number of failsafe confirmation sensors, visual indicators, and audible alarms, ensure the company is able to meet the code of practice requirements set out by the retailers it supplies.
The hygienic, open frame design minimises the potential for dirt traps and makes cleaning simple, essential elements of any Hazard Analysis and Critical Control point (HACCP) based framework.
In addition to ensuring all products are free of metal contamination, Mettler Toledo systems support the company’s aim to minimise production costs. Exceptional reliability and ease-of-use ensure maximum production line uptime, so the company can deliver orders on time to its customers.
By virtually eliminating false rejects, the metal detection systems also help to minimise unnecessary product waste and the costs associated with investigating potential sources of contamination.
