Machinery manufacturers across the inspection spectrum used interpack 2026 to showcase a fundamental paradigm shift, reframing scanning and detection systems not as disruptive regulatory roadblocks, but as critical drivers of operational uptime, volume optimization, and waste reduction.
For the frozen food sector, where intense margin pressures leave absolutely no room for error, this evolution from reactive food safety defense to proactive efficiency hits an incredibly vital nerve.
Processing food within the cold chain introduces severe physical complications, as fluctuating product temperatures, surface moisture, and high salt gradients often trick legacy sensors into triggering costly false positives.
To explore how modern automated inspection overcomes these harsh environmental variables, we interviewed specialists from Mettler-Toledo to map out the next operational frontier for the industry. The resulting discussions highlighted significant breakthroughs in sophisticated metal detection hardware designed to sharpen scanning sensitivity without inflating product waste, alongside the integration of next-generation X-ray systems that leverage layered artificial intelligence to execute hyper-precise defect classification in real time.
Ultimately, the unified message cutting across these technical advancements is that modern inspection must actively protect a manufacturer’s yield rather than interrupt it. By deploying smarter, adaptive software capable of neutralizing the fluctuating ‘product effect’ inherent to frozen goods, processors can seamlessly maintain strict compliance standards while driving a noticeable lift in overall line productivity.
Improving Detection Consistency
Metal detection performance is often discussed in terms of sensitivity, but Stuart Preston, Business Development Manager at Mettler-Toledo International argued that processors increasingly expect systems to deal with more complex realities than laboratory conditions. According to him, one of the key development priorities behind Mettler-Toledo’s latest systems has been improving detection consistency across products that behave differently as conditions change during production.
‘One of the things we’ve done is really listen to what customers wanted. Customers have always been interested in improving detection, so we brought out the M56. Compared with our previous model, the Profile Advantage, it offers better detection on wet products, dry products and frozen products. It’s more of an all-rounder. If the application is specifically dry products, then we have the M55, which includes eDrive Plus to provide a stronger signal and stronger field for better detection on dry products.’
Preston explained that products entering inspection at deep-frozen temperatures may behave differently as they move through the line. ‘On the M56, we use our 3S Plus algorithm. When products are at minus 18 degrees they behave more like dry products. But with products like potato chips or fries, when they stop or begin to thaw, they start behaving more like wet products because conductivity changes. The M56 uses multi-simultaneous frequency, meaning it runs two frequencies at the same time.’
Rejection Is the Bigger Issue
Line speed remains an obvious concern for processors, particularly in high-volume environments. However, Preston suggested that speed itself is often not the limiting factor. Instead, reject precision and reject management increasingly become operational priorities.
‘For frozen products, speed is generally less of an issue than in confectionery. Detection itself usually isn’t the problem unless you’re running above around 110 or 120 meters per minute, which is rare. The bigger issue is rejection. You don’t want to reject more product than necessary.’
That conversation moved quickly into rework practices and the economic implications of reject decisions. ‘Some customers may reject several products together depending on the reject setup, but increasingly customers are looking at rework, where rejected products can be brought back to the front of the line. Rejection is important, and we have many different rejection options. We’re also looking at conveyor systems that can reject product and then rework it as well.’ Preston was also cautious about reducing false reject performance to a single metric.
‘There’s no single answer. If a product is calibrated at minus 18 degrees, you may get no false rejects. But as it begins to thaw, conductivity changes and false rejects can increase. That’s why you need to build variance into the system. Using multi-simultaneous frequency and the 3S Plus algorithm, we remove much of that product effect and improve false reject rates. Correctly set up, false rejection rates should be close to zero.’
The discussion suggested that inspection increasingly depends on understanding process variability rather than relying solely on equipment capability. Digitalization was another major topic of discussion. Preston described changing expectations not only from operations teams but increasingly from IT and compliance departments.
‘One of the big things now is digitalization and compliance. A lot of IT departments are moving away from USB reporting. So instead of using USB, users can log in, access history, download reports and send them directly to storage directories, ProdX—our data capture system—or directly through OPC UA or OPC into MES or ERP systems.’
To read the entire article, please access your complimentary e-copy of Frozen Food Europe May-June, 2026 here.