West Coast processors will now have improved access to local, rapid response, off-site product inspection and anomaly screening. A new Thermo Fisher Scientific facility in Sunnyvale, Calif., is now available to assist in addressing food, beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturers’ safety and quality concerns.
Product Assurance Services and Solutions (PASS) from Thermo Fisher offers rapid response for companies requiring off-site packaged product evaluation to address possible foreign object contamination concerns. Additionally, the PASS facility can inspect products for processing anomalies (such as clumps), as well as broken or missing components (empty pharmaceutical blisters, partially-filled candy trays, etc.). The new facility is uniquely positioned to serve California’s Central Valley, a major North American fruit and vegetable production area.
“We are here to help customers get accurate and reliable results so that they are able to make informed decisions affecting the safety of the public,” explained Darren Eaton, global manager, PASS, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “By locating this facility in close proximity to this high production area, we help reduce the turnaround time and expense associated with urgent product contamination inspection issues.”
In addition to off-site contamination/anomaly screening, trained technicians perform onsite services for local companies.
Thermo Fisher manufactures and sells state-of-the art metal detectors and X-ray equipment globally. Service technicians have access to the most advanced technology and understand ideal operating parameters. Additional equipment can be obtained to facilitate rapid evaluation of multiple truckload quantities.
PASS facilities handle a broad range of metal, glass, plastic or paper packaging types including both rigid and flexible structures such as steel cans, metalized film, plastic bottles, blister packs, folding cartons, multilayer materials and more.
The new Northern California facility is the company’s third global PASS location. (The other two facilities are located in Barrington, Ill. and Rugby, Warwickshire, England.) Last year, the PASS facilities collectively evaluated more than 8 million packages.