Case study: J&J Snack Foods relies on X-ray inspection systems from Mettler-Toledo Safeline
J&J Snack Foods has developed a recipe for success. Over the last 50 years, they’ve transformed from a humble pretzel processor to become a leader in baked goods, frozen beverages and frozen novelty products with 4,200 employees across 18 production facilities. To support their commitment to excellence, J&J Snack Foods installed three x-ray systems from Mettler-Toledo Safeline, including an X33 model in 2017 and another X33 and a two-lane X36 model last year.
“We decided to go with x-ray systems instead of metal detectors on these lines because we wanted to maximize our detection capabilities,” said Carissa Chrobak, food safety quality control manager at J&J Snack Foods. “First, x-rays detect all dense foreign material and automatically reject contaminated packages. Second, some of our packages have foil lids, which is a problem for metal detectors. Finally, we sometimes use our x-rays to inspect the volume of product in a cup or the placement of product components in a package. For example, we have a package for club stores that contains tubes of Italian ice, and x-ray inspection lets us confirm the tubes are oriented correctly.