Inspection tech keeps wet pet food production safe, compliant and optimised

Producing wet pet food at scale requires high manufacturing throughput without compromising on safety or quality. This delicate balance demands efficient processes that minimise downtime and maximise productivity. Inspection plays a crucial role in streamlining production, making sure that each step is optimised for efficiency and safety. Detecting contaminants and facilitating compliance with regulatory standards helps manufacturers reduce costly recalls and uphold brand integrity.

Safety is paramount in pet food production, mirroring the stringent regulations and compliance rules governing human food. Technologies including metal detection and x-ray inspection solutions, are instrumental in identifying foreign objects, as are checkweighing systems to monitor fill level and weight, so that each batch of wet pet food meets the highest safety standards. Moreover, product inspection equipment is designed to accommodate harsh environments and rigorous washdown processes, minimising the risk of biological contamination.

Package design and presentation plays a vital role in attracting consumers and safeguarding product integrity. Vision inspection helps maintain label integrity by detecting defects such as misprints, smudges or inaccuracies. This enhances the overall aesthetic appeal and achieves regulatory compliance by accurately displaying crucial information such as ingredient lists, nutritional facts and expiration dates. Incorporating these advanced inspection systems into their processes allows manufacturers to uphold their commitment to quality and transparency, fostering trust among consumers and meeting regulatory standards.

Pro Pet, a renowned manufacturer of premium cat and dog snacks based in Austria, showcases the critical role of hygienic design solutions in pet food manufacturing. Through the integration of advanced product inspection systems from Mettler-Toledo, Pro Pet defends the safety and reliability of its products across every stage of production. Utilising metal detection, x-ray inspection, checkweighing and data management software, Pro Pet safeguards its products from the grinding phase to the final packaging stage.

System administrator at Pro Pet Austria Markus Gillitschka explains: "Weight is always an issue for us. Fluctuations inevitably arise during the production process – just think of the drying chambers – and these can also vary from one product batch to the next. That’s why we have to keep a close eye on it throughout the entire production line.”

The challenge, he states, is to optimise how processes are controlled in order to avoid excessive overfilling but also to ensure no product  falls below the specified fill weights.  "The checkweighers provide us with important data for quality control and potential process optimisations – be it quantities, belt speeds, rework quantities or data for batch tracing in case of any complaints. The x-rays give us a high degree of certainty when it comes to counting components such as cat sticks, as we are able to immediately identify packages containing too few pieces.

Since 2019, the firm has been recording, monitoring and documenting the production data provided by the inspection systems using Mettler-Toledo ProdX. This monitors and reports on all production parameters such as quantities, weight and batch information, all data records on the quantity and cause of rejected product units, as well as any data relating to the control and performance tests of the inspection systems. Documentation requirements for audits are thus highly automated, saving both time and money. 

Says Gillitschka: "This reduction of workload is something we could only dream of when we were still recording everything by hand. Even the auditor prefers not to receive manual records or Excel spreadsheets. A clear summary of all the data relevant to the audit, read out directly from the machine, is of a completely different calibre as a documentation method.”

Product inspection technologies are indispensable tools in wet pet food production, providing manufacturers with the means to combat rising costs, increase productivity and achieve product safety and quality. These technologies also aid in compliance with industry regulations and retailer codes of practice.

Miriam Krechlok is segment marketing manager, Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection

 Pic: Fernando Jorge