RACIO: Ensuring Food Safety in Czech Cereal Snack Production with Mekitec X-ray Inspection

RACIO, s.r.o. is a Czech manufacturer of rice, corn, and wholegrain cakes based in Břeclav, Czech Republic. Production began in 1990 with a single type of wheat puffed cake, and the company was formally established in 1992. Today RACIO's product range includes round cakes, cornies, flavoured rice cakes, organic (BIO) cakes, coated cakes, and mini rolls, exported to markets across Europe and beyond.

The Challenge: Consistent Quality Across High-Volume Cereal Snack Production

RACIO produces cereal-based snacks using a "puffing" process, where moisturized wheat or rice is dosed into an expansion baking mould and exposed to temperatures of 300°C and high pressure, causing the raw material to expand into its final shape within seconds. The cakes are then sorted to remove broken or damaged pieces before moving on to flavouring, coating, drying, and packaging stages.

With production spanning multiple raw materials, including wheat and rice stored in dedicated warehouses, and a manufacturing process that includes several transitions between different machines and tunnels, ensuring consistent product quality at every stage is essential. RACIO's certifications reflect the rigor required in its production environment: the company holds HACCP certification (since 2003), ISO 9001:2000, EFSIS, and BRC certification (since 2005), as well as IFS certification (since 2006). RACIO also maintains certification for organic (BIO) wholegrain cake production and, more recently, AOECS gluten-free certification (2020), underscoring the breadth of quality standards its products must meet across export markets in more than 20 countries.

Building a Long-Term Approach to Food Safety Technology

Since beginning production in 1990, RACIO has steadily expanded its certifications and production standards to meet the requirements of an international customer base, exporting to more than 20 countries and surpassing a turnover of 10 million EUR by 2007. Maintaining this scale of production while meeting HACCP, BRC, IFS, and other food safety certifications requires reliable, high-throughput quality control technology integrated directly into the production line.

As part of its ongoing commitment to food safety and product quality, RACIO integrated Mekitec X-ray inspection technology into its cereal snack production process, adding an additional layer of verification alongside its existing quality certifications and processing controls.

Implementation in the Production Line

Mekitec X-ray inspection was integrated into RACIO's cereal snack production line following the puffing, flavouring, and coating stages, positioning the system to verify product quality before final packaging. The inspection point allows each pack of round cakes, cornies, flavoured rice cakes, organic cakes, coated cakes, and mini rolls to be scanned as it moves toward the packaging line, where products are sealed into foil, date-coded, and cartoned for dispatch.

By placing X-ray inspection within its existing quality framework, RACIO adds a further safeguard across a product range that spans multiple grains, coatings, and packaging formats, supporting the consistency required for a company exporting to more than 20 countries and operating under HACCP, BRC, IFS, and organic certification requirements.

Supporting Consistent Quality and Export Growth

By incorporating X-ray inspection into its production line, RACIO reinforces the food safety framework already established through its HACCP, BRC, IFS, and ISO 9001:2000 certifications. This additional layer of verification supports RACIO's ability to maintain consistent product quality across its full range of cereal snacks, from round cakes and cornies to organic, coated, and mini roll varieties, as they move toward packaging and dispatch.

RACIO's certifications and export reach, with products shipped to more than 20 countries and turnover surpassing 10 million EUR by 2007, reflect the scale at which the company must uphold food safety standards. Integrating X-ray inspection into this established quality system helps RACIO continue meeting the expectations of international customers and regulatory bodies as its product range and markets grow.