Identifying foreign objects inside food is key for food safety and quality, brand reputation, and consumer safety.
This newly expanded and modified eBook introduces how to overcome potential problems in ensuring food is free from foreign objects. It also provides insights to facilitate understanding of choices in metal detection and X-ray solutions.
Advanced detection technologies increase detection sensitivity so food processors can find practically any foreign object in their packaged and unpackaged foods.
Contamination Threats to the Food Supply Chain
Food Supply Chain from Source to Consumer:
Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific – Production Process & Analytics
Foreign Contaminants in Food Recalls
Millions of pounds of food have been recalled due to foreign contaminants. These recalls reduce profitability through lost sales and higher costs, may also harm company reputations, and endanger consumer health.
As visible from the below sample from the existing U.S. FDA recall list, nearly every packaged food is vulnerable to issues with foreign contaminants:
- Plastic pieces found inside an energy bar
- Piece of rubber found in baby food
- Hard white pieces of plastic found in wet dog food
- Clear plastic pieces found in bread products
- Fragments of plastic mesh screen found in flour
- Small metal shavings found in apple coffee cakes
- White plastic found in ravioli
- Small pieces of plastic found in both mini muffins and brownie snacks
- Metal fragments found in gourmet cookies
- Small metal fragments found in baked items’ sugar toppings
- Metal fragments found in sugar used in Asian sauce
- Plastic and/or metal pieces found in cans of black beans
- Glass found in peach slices, mandarin oranges, and mixed fruit
- Glass fragments found in cans of red pepper strips
- Small pieces of glass found in cashew snack packages
- Glass pieces found in frozen pizza and frozen meals
- Wooden pieces found in ice cream
Regulatory Compliance
Accordance with Global Standards:
- FDA HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)
- GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative)
- ISO (International Standards Organization)
- BRC (British Retail Consortium)
- Numerous industry-specific standards for meat, bakery, dairy, seafood and other products
Image Credit: Thermo Fisher Scientific – Production Process & Analytics
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls (PC) Rule
Manufacturers should determine hazards, identify preventive controls to eradicate/minimize hazards, identify process parameters for these controls, and implement and continue tracking the process to ensure the system works properly. Hazards may be biological, chemical, and physical in nature.
Preventive controls for physical hazards typically include technologies such as metal detectors and X-ray inspection systems.
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This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Thermo Fisher Scientific – Production Process & Analytics.
For more information on this source, please visit Thermo Fisher Scientific – Production Process & Analytics.