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Cutting edge, New Zealand food x-ray technology is being used to ensure American-made beefburger patties pass US fat content regulations.
The IsoScan technology, developed by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS), is evolving to the point were products such as olive oil, fruit, milk and meat could all soon be x-rayed before they hit the supermarket shelves. The technology means that, eventually, Kiwi shoppers could be using hand-held scanners to check meat for tenderness before they buy it.
Already, New Zealand-grown beef is x-rayed to measure its fat content, so it can be sent to the US and blended with fat trimmings to make burger patties that meet US regulations. American grinders need to know how lean our meat is to make sure their patties contain less than the maximum 22.5 per cent fat.
Rob Archibald, research and development manager at ANZCO - a company that processes and markets meat - has been working with IsoScan since 2004. He said the x-ray technology had scope to be used on a wide range of foods. A tenderness-measuring technology is in the works, and GNS is also investigating ways to scan fruit before it is packed for sugar content and colour.
GNS scientist Joe Manning said IsoScan used the same principles as machines that scanned luggage in airports and did not affect food.
"It's non-invasive... Nothing breaks, you don't destroy the product." He said although hand-scanners were a long way off, they were feasible, and so was the idea that most food would eventually be scanned before it was sold.
IsoScan was used to check the density of timber and the fat content of meat, and meat tenderness was next on the to-do list, he said.
Archibald said the IsoScan machines could handle about 15 cartons of beef, weighing 27.2kg each, every minute and were accurate to 1 per cent.
