Digital Weighing Technology in the Food Industry

Companies in the food and packaging industries are required to comply with the provisions of the EU prepackaging directive 76/211/EEC. The German pre-packaging regulation (§ 22 FPackV) contains clear requirements in this regard: On average, the quantity must not be less than the nominal prepackaging capacity. This means that in practical terms, the producer is always free to overfill, but of course including less than the indicated quantity is critical. For example, if chocolate bars need to weigh 100 g, then only 2% of the bars can be lighter than 95.5 g and none lighter than 91 g.

The result of this strict regulation is that many food producers work with expensive overfilling. This can add up to major additional costs, especially with premium products such as olive oil, ice cream and cosmetics. Underfilled products are also rejected, which results in more expense, additional processes and the associated costs. These inaccuracies can be prevented with a more precise, reliable weighing technology as early as the filling and metering phase and no later than in the checkweighers at the end of the production line.