guide to handling a metal contamination food recall · guide to handling a metal contamination food...

Guidetohandlingametalcontaminationfoodrecall

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GuidetohandlingametalcontaminationfoodrecallAnyfoodrecallincidentisacrisissituationthatrequiresquickactiontomitigateanylongstandingfinancialandreputationaldamage.PhilBrown,EuropeanManagingDirectoratFortressTechnologyexaminesthedifferentfactorsthatcanmakefoodmanufacturersvulnerabletoarecall,evenwithinspectionequipmentinplace.ThetemptationtocutcornersonequipmentandtheconnectionbetweencompromisingonfoodsafetystandardswasrecentlyhighlightedbyglobalinsurancebrokerLocktonInternational.Virtuallyall(98%)ofthemanufacturerssurveyedfortheLocktonFood&BeverageReport1agreedthatcontinuedpricepressureswouldinfluencethefinalproductontheretailshelves,with42%believingthatcostcuttingistoblamefortherecentriseinthenumberofrecalls.Asaresultofretailpricingpressures,safetystandardsarebeingcompromisedsuggestthesurveyparticipants.ThestudyalsopointstoasignificantincreaseinfoodrecallsbytheUKFoodStandardsAgency(FSA),withthenumberdoublinginthelastfiveyears,andasharpriseinthosewithphysicalcontaminants,includingmetal.Lockton’sFoodandBeverageProductRecallRiskTrackerfoundthatfoodcontaminationlinkedtochokinghazardswerethecauseof22%offoodanddrinkrecallsoverthepastsixyears.“Itimpliesthatshort-termthriftwithequipmentmayhaveanadverseeffectonfoodsafety,puttingabusinessandbrandreputationinjeopardy.Understandinghowtooptimisemetaldetectionsystemsformsacriticalpartoftheplanningforarecallprocessandisgoodbusinesspractice,”saysPhil.ItcanhappentoanyoneMostfoodsuppliersthatfacearecallwillalmostcertainlyhaveproductinspectionequipmentinplace,sowhatcausesametalcontaminanttoslipthroughtheHACCPsafetynet?Theanswerisnosystemisentirelyinfallible.Qualityassuranceoftenrunsdeeperthantheobvious.Ratherthanconsideringthe‘if’itcanbeprudenttothinkinsteadaboutthe‘when’.Tomitigatefuturecontaminantrisksmeansyouarenotlookingforpatternsbutfuturepotentialholesinthesecuritychain.Fromapracticalperspective,foodprocessinginspectionrisksshouldbereviewedevery12monthsaspartofadefinedHACCPassessment.RunmockrecallsDon’twaitforacrisistohitbeforedevelopingyourrecallresponse.Itcanbeadvisabletorunseveraldressrehearsalsfordifferentproductscenarios.Makesureyouinvolveeveryonethatwouldbeconnectedtoarecall,fromqualityassurancemanagerstoproductionlineoperators,customerservicepersonneltomarketing.Testingyourprocessregularlyinthiswayhelpstoclarifyeveryone’srole.Itcanalsobeprudenttohaveacontingencyteamaswelltocoverholidaysandshouldtherecallhitoutofusualoperatinghours.

KnowyourmetalsTheuseofstainlesssteelwithinthefoodindustryiswidespread.Thesearemoredifficulttodetectthanferrousmetalssuchasironornon-ferrousmetalssuchascopperorzinc.That’sbecausemetaldetectorsworkbymonitoringdisturbancesinanelectromagneticfield,causedbymagneticandconductivecharacteristicsofmaterialpassingthrough.Ferrousmetalsarebothmagneticandgoodelectricalconductorssothey’rerelativelyeasytodetect.Non-ferrousmetalsaren’tmagneticbutthey’regoodconductors.

Guidetohandlingametalcontaminationfoodrecall

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Stainlesssteel,specificallythe300series,isnon-magneticandisalsoapoorelectricalconductorcomparedtoothermetaltypes.Thesecharacteristicsmakestainlesssteelthemostdifficultmetaltypetodetect.Inpractice,thismeansthatinasphereofstainlesssteelhiddeninadryproducttypicallyneedstobe50percentlargerthanaferrousspheretogeneratesimilarsignalstrength.Thatdisparitycanrisefrom200to300percentwheninspectingwetproductswithconductivecharacteristics.ConsiderproductflowandshapeFoodproductscomeinallshapes,sizesanddensity.What’smore,productsdon’talwaystravelconsistentlyinthesamedirectionwhenpassingthroughthemetaldetectoraperture.Sincesize,shape,orientationandpositionofmetalcontaminantscannotbecontrolled,operatingametaldetectoratthehighestpossiblesensitivityisgenerallyviewedasthebestmethodtodetectthesmallestpossiblecontaminants.It’sequallyimportanttorememberthatmetaldetectorperformanceisusuallymeasuredusingspheres.However,metalcontaminationmaynotbespherical,thusthesignalgeneratedbysaidcontaminantcanvaryinamplitudequitedrasticallyinsomecases.Themostextremeexampleissmalldiameterwire,whichmaybeeasytodetectifitpresentstothedetectorinoneorientation,butverytrickytospotifitarrivesinadifferent(worstcase)orientation.It’sthereforeimportanttooptimisetheperformanceofthedetectortocopewiththeworst-casescenario.Animprovementinspheresizefrom3mmto2.5mmmaynotsoundlikemuch,butitcanbethedifferencebetweensuccessandfailurewhentryingtospotanirregularfragment.TestandrecordIt’svitaltocheckthatanymetaldetectionsystemisfailsafe.Forexample,ifafaultwiththerejectsystemmeansthatacontaminantisdetectedbutnotrejected,thelineshouldstopautomaticallyuntilthesituationisresolved.Boththedetectorperformanceandfail-safecapabilityshouldbetestedregularlywithresultskeptonrecordtosupporttraceability.Majorretailerswilltypicallyhavetheirowncodesofpracticethatspecifytheirtestingandreportingrequirements,butwhathappensintheorycanbehardertoimplementinpracticeinabusyproductionenvironment–especiallyiftherecordkeepingisdonemanuallyonpaper.Somemetaldetectorequipmentmanufacturers–FortressTechnologyincluded–integratesecure,automaticloggingofallsuchinformationintotheirsystems.Thisissomethingwhereamodestinvestmentupfrontcanleadtosavingslateronbynarrowingthetimewindowduringwhichaproblemcangoundetectedandreducingthenumberofsuspectproductsthatmustbediscardedorrecalledincaseofanincident.SizedoesmatterBecausesensitivityismeasuredatthegeometriccenteroftheaperture,theratiooftheaperturetothesizeoftheproductisanessentialconsideration.Maximumsensitivityoccurswhenthebeltandfooditemisclosesttotheedgeofthemetaldetectoropening,makingsensethatthesmallertheaperture,themorecapableitisofdetectingthesmallestpossiblecontaminants.Userscouldoptimiseperformancebyusingseveralsmallerdetectorspositionedatcriticalcontrolpointsthroughouttheprocess,ratherthanasingle,big‘catch-all’detectorattheendoftheline.Utilisingupstreammetaldetectioncanalsoidentifysmallercontaminants,whichmaynotbepossibleattheendofthelinesystem.HACCPguidancestatesthatcriticalcontrolpoints(CCPs)shouldbelocatedatanystepwherehazardscanbeprevented,eliminated,orreducedtoacceptablelevels.

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Detectinganycontaminantattheupstreamphasemeansthattherejectedproductwillbeasmallamountofrawmaterial/unfinishedproductversusfinished/packagedproduct.Thismethodwillalsohelpidentifypossiblesourcesofthecontaminant,asthepointofinspectionisclosertothemanufacturingprocesswherefragmentsofmetalmaybeintroducedfromprocessingequipment.MitigatingtherisksWhenbalancingtherisksandrewardsofinvestinginoptimisedmetaldetectorssystems,manyusersdon’tperceivethemasgeneratingvaluefortheirbusinessbeyondtheneedtocomplywithcustomerdemands,suchasretailercodesofpractice.However,short-termthriftcouldbeanexpensivemistakeinthelongerterm.Anyfoodmanufacturershouldlookatthisfromariskmanagementperspective.Thinkofitlikefireinsurance.Nooneintendstoallowmetaltocontaminatetheirfoodproductsanymorethantheyintendtoburndowntheirfactory,butthatdoesn’tstopthemfrominvestinginfireprotectionandinsurance.Inthesameway,investinginmetaldetectionreducestheriskofacompany’shard-wonreputationforfoodsafetygoingupinflames.Byweighingthecostofequipmentversusthecostofaproductrecall,thedecisiontoinvestingoodqualityinspectionequipmentshouldasimpleone.Images

1https://www.locktoninternational.com/articles/why-food-manufacturers-safety-standards-are-under-threat

Duringtheinspectionofwetproducts,suchasmeat,asphereofstainlesssteelisthemostdifficulttodetectcomparedtootherferrousmetals

Forfulltraceability,datacanbeautomaticallyloggedintomanymetaldetectionsystems,whichcanbequicklyrecalledifneeded

Theratiooftheaperturetothesizeoftheproductisanessentialconsiderationassensitivityismeasuredatthegeometriccentreoftheaperture

Testspheresarethestandardtechniqueformeasuringthesensitivityoffoodinspectionmetaldetectors