When it comes to food processing, the safety of your consumers should always be a top priority. However, sometimes, manufacturers can struggle to keep their metal separation equipment in good shape. Whether this is due to gross negligence, or they’re simply not aware of the importance of a magnet test, the bottom line stays the same—it’s a recipe for disaster.
Don’t Leave It to Chance: 5 Reasons Why You Should Regularly Test Food Processing Magnets
Here’s a few reasons why every food processor should conduct an annual professional 3rd party magnet tests or magnet validations:
- Ensure Compliance With Industry Regulations: Let’s face it; the food processing industry is heavily regulated—and for good reason. When it comes to consumable products, the safety of your consumers is at stake. Having your food processing magnets validated annually helps ensure that you’re in compliance with these regulations. A product recall can result in fines, legal action, and potential harm to your customers and your business, along with many other implications.
- Maintain Product Quality and Safety: Metal contaminants in food are a serious health concern. Luckily, regular magnet tests help ensure that you are aware of the status and effectiveness of your magnets. When you stay diligent, your customers will trust that your products are safe and of high quality, which leads to increased sales and customer loyalty.
- Reduce Equipment Downtime: In certain processing lines, the absence of upstream contributing magnets can allow a larger metal contaminant to travel downstream and damage expensive processing equipment, or lead to the final magnet being overloaded with metal fragments – leading to ineffective metal separation at a critical point. If you’re looking to avoid costly equipment repairs or replacements, or would like to ensure your final magnets are sufficiently supported and contamination is reduced early in the process, invest in annual magnet tests and risk assessments to learn about the status of your existing magnets, and whether you may potentially need to take preventive or corrective actions to avoid and reduce risks.
- Protect Your Brand Reputation: With contaminants inside the food supply gaining more attention, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of potential threats. They expect companies to take the necessary precautions to ensure that their products are safe to eat. Regularly testing your magnets helps protect your brand reputation by demonstrating your commitment to food safety and ensuring magnets in packaging locations or key final product areas are optimum and compliant.
- Improving Daily Efficiencies: Yearly magnet tests can improve your daily efficiencies. If a magnet is not effective for its duty, it can lead to increased product waste and potential recalls. With consistent testing, you’re able to improve potential bottlenecks in your production process and reduce risks by utilizing experienced help and advice from proper testing and reporting methods and documentation.
Tips & Tricks to Ensure Your Food Processing Magnets Are in Top Shape
The U.S. food market amounted to a whopping $9.43 trillion in 2022 alone, and analysts predict it’ll grow by 6.21% annually. With so much on the line, food processors are investing thousands—if not millions—in proactively reducing the risk of foreign metal contamination. But you may be wondering, “What’s the best way to reduce ferrous contaminants?” Well, it’s simple: keep your magnetic separation equipment in good shape, purchase quality magnets that are suitable to your applications from reputable suppliers, and turn to 3rd party magnet validation reports for insight on how your effective your magnets are in reducing metal contamination and preventing recalls. Here’s two quick and easy steps to do so.
Book in a Magnet Validation & Measure Magnet Strength with a Gauss Test
For a comprehensive, holistic magnet testing method, professional 3rd party magnet validations are a top choice. Essentially, an experienced technician visits your facility and conducts a series of magnet tests using a calibrated gauss meter. Additionally, the technician assesses the condition of the magnet, product coverage, metal retention capabilities, and many more factors which can influence your product safety. The key advantage of this process is that you’ll get all of the information you need to know, and more, on whether your magnets are adequate for duty and optimized to reduce risk.
Schedule a Professional Magnet Test with the Experts
Looking to keep your food products safe? Need help determining your magnet’s strength? Good news, you’re in the right spot. For over 50 years, Magnattack® has led the way when it comes to magnetic separation equipment in the food industry. That’s why we’ve partnered with Active Magnetics Research to provide HACCP-Certified, third-party magnet validations and consulting. Don’t wait until it’s too late — contact us to book in your magnet validation today and experience the benefits of years of experience and accurate, informative reporting.
