SLICING MACHINE

A slicing machine for cutting slices from a product includes a camera (6) which views a cut face (5) of the product. A boundary recognition processor (14) processes image signals from the camera (6) to determine a boundary of the cut face (5). A parameter characteristic of the cut face (5) is calculated from image data corresponding to regions of the cut face within the determined boundary. A control signal generating circuit generates a control signal to control the operation of the slicer in accordance with the determined parameter. In a preferred example, the boundary is analysed to determine the location of any secondary regions (10) of the cut face (5) and the characteristic parameter is calculated from image data corresponding to regions of the cut face other than the secondary regions.