To distinguish and detect a shadow occurring in a gap or the like between noodle strings, stains adhered to noodle strips, discoloration of noodle strips and foreign matters interposed between noodle strips.SOLUTION: A specimen S consisting solely of noodle lumps W molded by crimped noodle strings W1 entangled in a fixed position F on a translucent placing plate 1, or a specimen S having translucency A specimen S containing only the noodle mass W is placed in a mold container C, a luminaire 3 and a color camera 2 capable of irradiating white illumination light are installed above the fixed position F, and the fixed position Lighting fixtures 4 and 5 capable of irradiating red illumination light and blue illumination light, respectively, are installed below the placement plate 1 of F, and white illumination light and red illumination light are simultaneously irradiated on the subject S The image pickup by the color camera 2 and the image pickup by the color camera 2 simultaneously illuminating the white illumination light and the blue illumination light are performed consecutively in random order, and each of the color images obtained by each of the above-Whether or not it has a specific color prespecified according to the color is determined by image processing means Determining Te.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION【課題】麺線間の隙間等に生じる影と、麺線に付着した汚れ、麺線の変色や麺線間に介在する異物を区別して検出する。【解決手段】透光性を有する載置板１上の定位置Ｆに、捲縮した麺線W1が絡み合って成型された麺塊Ｗのみから成る被検体Ｓ、又は、透光性を有するカップ型容器Ｃに前記麺塊Ｗのみを収容して成る被検体Ｓを配置し、前記定位置Ｆの上方に白色照明光を照射可能な照明器具３とカラーカメラ２を設置すると共に、前記定位置Ｆの載置板１を介した下方に赤色照明光と青色照明光の夫々を照射可能な照明器具４、５を設置し、被検体Ｓに対し、白色照明光と赤色照明光を同時照射したカラーカメラ２による撮像と、白色照明光と青色照明光を同時照射したカラーカメラ２による撮像とを、順不同で連続して行い、前記各撮像によって得られたカラー画像の夫々が、下方の照明光色に応じて予め指定された特定色を有するか否かを画像処理手段にて判定する。【選択図】図１
