What Are the Applications of Thermal Imaging Equipment in the Food Field?

1. Understand thermal imaging equipment

Infrared thermal imaging equipment, which was originally used in the military field, has been expanded to civilian and industrial fields in recent years. Since the 1970s, some developed countries have begun to explore the use of infrared thermal imaging equipment in various fields. After decades of continuous development, infrared thermal imaging equipment has evolved from a bulky machine to a lightweight, portable device for field testing.

Food safety issues have increasingly attracted widespread attention from countries all over the world. The supervision and management of food safety have been strengthened, and some new detection technologies have been emerging. Because of the uncertainty of the human factor in food processing, food processors can opt for automated tools during critical operations, which can help reduce human error while keeping costs down. Thermal imaging equipment is a new type of detection technology developed in recent years, which is widely used in the food industry. It can be used for quantitative analysis of food components, food processing hygiene inspection, food quality assessment, etc. It has broad application prospects in the field of food safety.

2. The application of thermal imaging equipment in the food field

Food Production Quality Assurance: Infrared thermal imaging equipment is the premier quality assurance tool. Controlling the quality and safety of cooked meat products is a true manifestation of the excellent value of infrared thermal imaging technology. For example, a stationary infrared thermal imaging device is installed to record the temperature of crispy chicken fillets as they emerge from a continuous conveyor oven.

The temperature of food refrigeration and heat preservation is stable: general food refrigeration is in an open refrigerator, such as fresh meat, dishes, freezers, etc., and its temperature cannot exceed 4.4 degrees. With the rapid inspection of thermal imaging equipment in an open refrigerator, it can be ensured temperature stability. Of course, the principle of insulation is the same.

Transportation and storage of food raw materials: When transporting and storing fresh or frozen materials, it is necessary to ensure that the temperature of the transport vehicle and storage location is within the appropriate range, so as not to cause food spoilage or uneven distribution of hot spots in the product.

Food packaging inspection: Companion software can be used to help infrared thermal imaging equipment locate objects and graphics in the image. Pattern matching can be used in frozen food production, where thermal machine vision uses pattern recognition software to detect whether food tray compartments are properly filled. In addition to the above applications, with the continuous upgrading and improvement of products, the application of thermal imaging equipment in the food industry will become more and more widely, and it will be more and more accepted by people. Food safety is no trivial matter. To ensure the safety of everyone's meals, food manufacturers must control them from the source.