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Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Any food recall incident is a crisis situation that requires quick action to mitigate any longstanding financial and reputational damage. Phil Brown, European Managing Director at Fortress Technology examines the different factors that can make food manufacturers vulnerable to a recall, even with inspection equipment in place. The temptation to cut corners on equipment and the connection between compromising on food safety standards was recently highlighted by global insurance broker Lockton International. Virtually all (98%) of the manufacturers surveyed for the Lockton Food & Beverage Report 1 agreed that continued price pressures would influence the final product on the retail shelves, with 42% believing that cost cutting is to blame for the recent rise in the number of recalls. As a result of retail pricing pressures, safety standards are being compromised suggest the survey participants. The study also points to a significant increase in food recalls by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), with the number doubling in the last five years, and a sharp rise in those with physical contaminants, including metal. Lockton’s Food and Beverage Product Recall Risk Tracker found that food contamination linked to choking hazards were the cause of 22% of food and drink recalls over the past six years. “It implies that short-term thrift with equipment may have an adverse effect on food safety, putting a business and brand reputation in jeopardy. Understanding how to optimise metal detection systems forms a critical part of the planning for a recall process and is good business practice,” says Phil. It can happen to anyone Most food suppliers that face a recall will almost certainly have product inspection equipment in place, so what causes a metal contaminant to slip through the HACCP safety net? The answer is no system is entirely infallible. Quality assurance often runs deeper than the obvious. Rather than considering the ‘if’ it can be prudent to think instead about the ‘when’. To mitigate future contaminant risks means you are not looking for patterns but future potential holes in the security chain. From a practical perspective, food processing inspection risks should be reviewed every 12 months as part of a defined HACCP assessment. Run mock recalls Don’t wait for a crisis to hit before developing your recall response. It can be advisable to run several dress rehearsals for different product scenarios. Make sure you involve everyone that would be connected to a recall, from quality assurance managers to production line operators, customer service personnel to marketing. Testing your process regularly in this way helps to clarify everyone’s role. It can also be prudent to have a contingency team as well to cover holidays and should the recall hit out of usual operating hours. Know your metals The use of stainless steel within the food industry is widespread. These are more difficult to detect than ferrous metals such as iron or non-ferrous metals such as copper or zinc. That’s because metal detectors work by monitoring disturbances in an electromagnetic field, caused by magnetic and conductive characteristics of material passing through. Ferrous metals are both magnetic and good electrical conductors so they’re relatively easy to detect. Non-ferrous metals aren’t magnetic but they’re good conductors.

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Page 1: Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall · Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Page 1 of 3 Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Any food

Guidetohandlingametalcontaminationfoodrecall

www.fortresstechnology.co.ukPage1of3

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.

Page 2: Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall · Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Page 1 of 3 Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Any food

Guidetohandlingametalcontaminationfoodrecall

www.fortresstechnology.co.ukPage2of3

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.

Page 3: Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall · Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Page 1 of 3 Guide to handling a metal contamination food recall Any food

Guidetohandlingametalcontaminationfoodrecall

www.fortresstechnology.co.ukPage3of3

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


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