The increasing demands now being made on quality and price-conscious production have prompted meat and sausage firms to intensify the inspections they perform in the field of quality assurance.
The increasing demands now being made on quality and
price-conscious production have prompted meat and sausage firms to
intensify the inspections they perform in the field of quality
assurance.
In this context, the question arises whether solely an inspection of
the end-products, where intervention is possible only in very rare
cases, is still in line with current requirements. In view of this
situation, it would seem more sensible to transfer quality assurance to
the incoming goods and production areas. To achieve this sample
inspection needs to be performed in a matter of seconds.
The
new GROMA system allows results to be obtained within several seconds.
This means that incoming and on-line inspections can be performed
effectively, and the user is in a position to undertake corrective
action if required.
For the simple performance and evaluation of
an analysis, several software packages which can also be operated by
persons who do not regularly use a PC were integrated.
For the
measurement, an appropriate quantity of the sample is finely ground in
an homogeniser. This mass is subsequently spread on a sample dish made
of special glass and then placed on the plate of the measuring system.
Depending
on the product type (raw meat, sausage meat or end-products), the
analysis is started by clicking on the appropriate button. The result
(eg, percentage water, percentage fat, percentage protein, percentage
collagenic connective tissue (beffe), etc) is directly output on the
monitor. A further evaluation, eg, daily or product lists, is also
possible with the database.
Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH, Spectral Sensors, is based in Jena, Germany. www.zeiss.de/spectral
