Key Technology has introduced new optical sorters for processed protein products, such as frozen chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, fish sticks, plant-based meat alternatives, and other foods. Automatically removing product defects and foreign material (FM), Key’s optical sorters including COMPASS® and VERYX® help optimize product quality while improving yield and reducing labor.
Key’s COMPASS and VERYX optical sorters detect the color, size, shape, and structural properties of every object to identify and remove a variety of product defects including clumps of product, clumps of breading/batter, and product that has not been formed, cooked, or coated correctly. FM like plastic, metal, glass, and paper that may have been accidentally introduced to the production line is also removed. For processed protein applications, optical sorting is most often utilized immediately prior to packaging for final inspection but may also be utilized upstream to inspect incoming ingredients.