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
