The ability to conduct elemental analyses of materials close to the production line has significant advantages for improving food product quality and consistency while maximizing throughput. This is especially true in micronutrient analysis, where the ability to accurately determine elemental composition during production is of great importance. It is also important for detecting residues of heavy metals, which can be dangerous because of their toxicity, bioaccumulation, and bio-magnification in the food chain.
Traditional laboratory-based quality control methods add substantial costs and delays to processes already operating with thin margins. However, a new generation of high-resolution rapid screening technology is now available in an instrument designed specifically to conduct lab-quality elemental analyses close to the production line. This report documents the performance that’s possible using ED-XRF spectroscopy for the analysis of micronutrients in milk powder and a second example presents data for the analysis of rice contaminated with arsenic.