Inspecting Traditional Canned Meats With Next-generation Technology

Keystone Meats integrated an X-ray system at the end of their packaging line to inspect canned products before they are shipped to customers. Image courtesy of Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection.

Fourth Generation Family Business Takes Pride in Robust Food Safety Standards

By Cat McBride, Contributor

Keystone Meats has been producing all-natural lean meats with no artificial ingredients or preservatives for more than 60 years. It started when rancher Raymond L. Dorley wanted to provide new opportunities for his son, who was returning home from World War II.

Together, they opened a meat packing company that processed cattle from their farm. Now, this fourth-generation family business has grown to offer a wide variety of canned meats, broths and soup bases that are sold in grocery stores nationwide and online. Still based in Lima, Ohio where they were founded, Keystone slow cooks their USDA meats in small batches and hand packs them the old-fashioned way.

The Challenge

Pete Dorley is the President of Keystone Meats, which offers a wide variety of canned meats, broths and soup bases sold online, and in grocery stores nationwide. Image courtesy of Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection.

“Although we have deep roots in tradition, we’re always looking for new ways to improve. Product inspection is one area where we knew there was better technology than what we were using, so last year we began investigating,” said Pete Dorley, President of Keystone Meats and great-grandson of Raymond L. Dorley. “Metal is our number one foreign material concern because in the meat processing business, there’s lots of cutting and grinding. Plus, our product is packed in cans, which could also introduce unintended metal to the production line.”

“A metal detector could have worked for us if it was positioned before the product is packed into cans. But then, of course, we’d miss inspecting a big part of our process,” explained Dorley. “We really wanted to position inspection at the very end of the packaging line, so we could be certain the final product is perfect before it goes out to our customers. That meant an X-ray system was the best choice for us.”

“We had a few objectives in mind for our new X-ray. Naturally, detection accuracy was critical, because there’s no point installing a product inspection system if it can’t reliably detect foreign material. Also, we were very focused on finding a system that could fit within our current line layout, since floorspace is always a concern,” said Dorley. “Our last major consideration was ease of use. While we wanted a super advanced X-ray system, it couldn’t be so complicated that our operators couldn’t figure out how to use it.”

“During our research phase, Mettler-Toledo stood out for their expertise and great customer service. As a small business, we don’t have in-house expertise in everything, so we often rely on our suppliers to share their knowledge and help us improve,” noted Dorley. “Our sales rep, Pete Haggard of Action Services Equipment Company, is also a valuable resource. He helped us understand our options and identify the best technology for our application.”

“A lot of the time, people think that small businesses will never have the same robust food safety standards as big companies, but that’s not the case. Little guys like us care deeply about our customers.”

Pete Dorley, President of Keystone Meats

The Solution

Ultimately, Keystone selected Mettler-Toledo’s X37 X-ray system to inspect their entire range of canned products, including proteins such as beef, chicken, pork and turkey, that are packed in 14.5-ounce, 28-ounce and 50-ounce metal cans. The X-ray system was installed at the end of the packaging line over Keystone’s existing conveyor to minimize floorspace requirements. In addition to detecting metal, the X37 identifies glass, bone, dense plastic and more.

“The sensitivity of our new X-ray system is truly amazing. Its performance has exceeded our expectations,” said Dorley. “We haven’t detected any contaminants in the ‘wild’ yet – which is fortunate, since that means our prevention protocols are working. But we test our X37 with extremely small test strips daily and, beyond that, we’ve tried tricking it to see if it can catch little things that shouldn’t be there. It never fails.”

Designed for versatility, the X37 is ideal for a wide variety of foods packed in rigid containers made of metal, glass, plastic, paperboard and more. To meet each customer’s specific inspection requirements, the X37 is available with a low-, medium- or high-powered generator as well as a choice of either a 0.4mm or 0.8mm diode. It’s capable of inspecting up to 1,200 packages per minute depending on the application, while maintaining the highest accuracy. “Our X-ray is only inspecting a few hundred cans a minute, so we have plenty of room to increase our line speed later, if needed,” added Dorley.

“Another thing we like about our X37 is that we have virtually no false rejects. That’s impressive considering how sensitive this system is,” said Dorley. “False rejects are a big hassle, resulting in product we either can’t use or need to spend time and resources to rework. It’s a huge relief that we don’t have a bunch of cans we need to troubleshoot at the end of every day.”

The Process

The Mettler-Toledo X37 control panel is an intuitive touchscreen, and everyone on the Keystone Meats factory floor is able to operate the system. Image courtesy of Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection.

As cans are inspected by Keystone’s X37, ‘good’ products flow downstream to the case packer, while any out-of-tolerance products are removed with a Mettler-Toledo pneumatic pusher reject device into a lockable bin that safely stores rejected cans.

“Before we installed the X37, we were concerned that it might be challenging to bring our whole crew up to speed on how to operate this advanced X-ray system, but it’s actually been really easy,” remarked Dorley. “The control panel is an intuitive touchscreen just like a smartphone, which we’re all familiar with. Everyone on the factory floor is now capable of operating this system, no problem.”

Keystone typically changes over this packaging line to handle a different product or can size two or three times a day. Changing over their X37 takes only two minutes – an operator simply selects a new recipe on the control panel and, when needed, changes the rail size on the conveyor. The system is password protected with different levels of access to ensure a worker doesn’t accidentally change the sensitivity or another setting.

“In terms of sanitation, there’s not a lot required after the cans are sealed at the end of the packaging line. That said, we keep a pristine plant so all our equipment needs to be sanitary and easy to clean, including our X-ray,” said Dorley. “At the end of every shift, we sanitize the entire plant including the dry warehouse where our X37 is installed. The system only needs a wipe down and a quick visual inspection to make sure the tunnel is clear.”

“We may be a small, specialty meat packer, but we have the most advanced product inspection thanks to our X37 and the team at Mettler-Toledo,” concluded Dorley. “A lot of the time, people think that small businesses will never have the same robust food safety standards as big companies, but that’s not the case. Little guys like us care deeply about our customers. Ensuring our products are the highest quality is fundamental to who we are and what we do.”

About the Author

Cat McBride is a writer focused on food packaging topics. For more information about Keystone Meats, visit www.keystonemeats.com or email contact@keystonemeats.com. For more information about Mettler-Toledo, visit www.mt.com/pi.