COVID-19 has affected the world in ways many people never thought possible. As businesses are forced to close or severely reduce hours for the sake of public safety, many people are asking:

What makes a business “essential”?

It’s easy to see why grocery stores, hospitals, and gas stations are still operating. These places all provide essential services we can immediately recognize. However, Bunting is also essential during this time—in ways you might not see because our equipment is working hardest behind the scenes.

Bunting’s magnetic separation, metal detection, and conveying equipment keeps essential businesses such as food processing, plastics production, and the manufacture of medical technology operating smoothly. If Bunting equipment was not supporting these businesses, consumers and product integrity would be put at risk, causing even greater trouble during an already chaotic time.

In the food processing industry, Bunting equipment separates, detects, and removes ferrous and non-ferrous metal contaminants from foods ranging from flour, to meat, to final package products. If any sort of metal contamination were to be present in food, equipment in the food processing line could be damaged and operations could be forced to shut down.

Metal contamination in food could also cause harm to a consumer if they bite into food with a piece of metal embedded within it. If metal contamination is found to be present in food, massive amounts of product must be recalled and pulled from the shelves. This not only has the potential to cause bodily harm to your customer, but it can also cause serious harm to your brand reputation. The consequences of product recalls are serious enough under normal circumstances, but product recalls are even more threatening when grocery stores are already dealing with strain on their ability to keep items in stock.

Bunting magnetic separation and metal detection equipment protects consumers and protects other equipment in food processing facilities so that operations stay on schedule.  Magnetic separation equipment prevents metal contamination from damaging other equipment and causing costly repairs and downtime that could result in production stopping or coming to a standstill. Metal detection equipment is of unique value because it can detect both ferrous and non-ferrous contamination, even in material that has already been packaged. Running product through a metal detector to be certain there is no contamination present is a vital final step in any food packaging process.

Bunting’s material handling equipment, such as our washdown can conveyors, can also be found in food processing facilities. Products like our washdown conveyors help product to move quickly from the facility to your grocery store shelves.

When we look at a product in the grocery store, we often don’t think about where it came from, or how it got to our shopping cart. Bunting magnetic separation, metal detection, and conveying equipment is custom designed for specific aspects of the food industry in order to protect food from metal contamination at every step of the process. Bunting protects equipment so that production of critical items can stay on schedule. With Bunting, food can be thoroughly examined for contamination while still moving swiftly throughout a processing facility so that customers do not have to deal with item shortages or fear of contaminated food during an already stressful time.