Preventing foreign material contamination of foods

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Title:

Personal Author:

Peariso, Doug

Publication Information:

Ames, Iowa : Blackwell Pub., 2006

ISBN:

9780813816395

Subject Term:

Food industry and trade -- Quality control

Food contamination -- Prevention

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Call Number	Material Type	Item Category 1	Status
Searching... PSZ JB	30000010162339	TP372.5 P42 2006	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown

Extraneous foreign material in food products is undeniably a physical hazard that must be mitigated by processors and food service establishments. Beyond this underlying threat to food safety, physical contaminants can impact the element most essential to an organization's success - consumer confidence and trust in the producer and its brand. Preventing Foreign Material Contamination of Foods describes the business implications of non-conforming products as it provides processors with conceptual strategies that can be implemented to detect, eliminate, and prevent physical contamination in common commodities utilized within food processing. The text offers a comprehensive contemporary discussion and ready professional reference on the contamination of food products with foreign material (from both product related and product non-related sources).

Recent and past regulatory enforcement actions and case studies provide the reader with clear real world examples of how producers have successfully and unsuccessfully handled issues related to foreign material contamination. Numerous tables and illustrations assist in developing HACCP plans, or when evaluating the validity of existing plans as an internal/external auditor. Statistical sampling concepts are presented in combination with industry standard test methods in a visual manner that is easily understandable. Prevention and evaluation of foreign material contamination are discussed with a farm to table focus along with the latest information on technology/strategies utilized for the detection and culling of foreign material in food products including: metal detection, density separation, x-ray of product streams, magnetic separation techniques, automated color and shape recognition, proper microscopic examination for micro-physical contaminants, and analytical test methods for determining the origin of macroscopic contaminants.

Real world strategies of applying these technologies are profiled for readers to better visualize applications possible within their own environments. The essential concepts of installation qualification, operational qualification and ongoing verification of equipment performance are also presented. Additionally, the reader will be able to identify, quantitatively evaluate, and set management policy on "situations of risk" encountered in the company's day-to-day environment. Strategies and concepts cover the full spectrum of food production:

Whole fruit and vegetable processors Juice and puree processors Cereal and bakery production Dairy and cultured food productsMeat and poultry processing Confectionary and snack food manufacturing Food service establishments and restaurants

Written for quality assurance, HACCP, and related professionals charged with maintaining the integrity of their food product, Preventing Foreign Material Contamination of Foods offers conceptual, pragmatic, and implementable strategies to detect and eliminate physical contamination during food processing.

Author Notes

Doug Peariso is the former senior quality assurance manager for the Foods Business Unit of Gerber Products Company, Freemont, Michigan

1 The Importance of Preventing Foreign Material Contamination of Food Products	p. 1
1.1 Introduction	p. 1
1.2 The Ever-Changing Role of the Food Processor from Previous Eras to the Present	p. 1
1.3 Definitions of Foreign Material	p. 3
1.3.1 Classification of Foreign Material Contaminants and Risk Assessment	p. 5
1.4 Defining the Current Scope of the Issue in the Market Place-Consumer Complaints and Recalls	p. 13
1.4.1 Summary of Results from a 7.5 Year Retrospective Analysis of Food Recalls Conducted Due to the Presence Foreign Materials	p. 16
1.5 Why It Is Important to Have a Functioning Foreign Material Control Program	p. 20
1.5.1 Ethical Concerns	p. 21
1.5.2 Legal Ramifications of Nonconforming Food Products	p. 21
1.5.3 Monetary Concerns of the Business Venture	p. 23
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 24
2 Proactive Management Strategies for Dealing with Foreign Materials	p. 27
2.1 Introduction	p. 27
2.2 Step 1-Learn to Recognize and Emerge from Firefighting and Continual Crisis Management	p. 28
2.3 Step 2-Examine the Existing System's Infrastructure, and Shore Up Shortcomings	p. 29
2.4 Step 3-Apply Source Control Strategies	p. 30
2.4.1 Source Control 1A-Application of Relevant GAPs for Raw Agricultural Commodities	p. 31
2.4.2 Source Control 1B-Application of Relevant GAPs to Livestock Commodities	p. 41
2.4.3 Source Control 2-Supplier Management Practices	p. 45
2.5 Internal Process Management Systems for FM	p. 52
2.5.1 Assessing Potential Incidents via HACCP and QACCP	p. 52
2.6 Error-Proofing Systems for Sustainable Results	p. 60
2.7 Quick Discussion on Product Security	p. 61
2.8 Monitoring Tactics to Protect the Brand After Products Have Been Distributed	p. 62
2.8.1 The Voice of the Consumer	p. 62
2.8.2 Go Shopping and See What the Product Really Looks Like	p. 63
2.8.3 Monitoring the Mass Media and Surveillance of the Internet	p. 64
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 65
3 Physical Separation Techniques for Controlling FM Contaminants	p. 67
3.1 What Is the Difference? Physical Characteristics of Product versus the FM	p. 67
3.2 Sifters and Screeners for Free-Flowing Dry Products	p. 68
3.2.1 Materials Used in the Manufacture of Screens and Their Sizes	p. 69
3.2.2 Placement of Screens Within the Process	p. 69
3.2.3 Types of Screener Applications Available for Use with Dry Products	p. 70
3.3 Use of Gravity Separators with Dry Products	p. 74
3.4 Air Classifiers	p. 75
3.4.1 Gravity Air Classifier	p. 75
3.4.2 Cyclone Separator	p. 76
3.4.3 Combination Elutriation-Vortex Separator	p. 76
3.5 Addressing the Separation of Contaminants from Wet Product Streams	p. 77
3.5.1 Gross Screening of Wet Products	p. 78
3.5.2 Piercing Panels (Pin Conveyors)	p. 80
3.5.3 Filtration of Wet Product Streams	p. 80
3.5.4 Washing and Physical Agitation of Food Products	p. 84
3.5.5 Product Contaminant Density-Related Buoyancy	p. 84
3.6 Using Physical Separation Techniques to Eliminate Contaminants from Packaging Materials	p. 85
3.6.1 Inversion Wash	p. 85
3.6.2 Dealing with Separation of FM from Continuous Roll-Fed Packaging Films	p. 86
3.7 Monitoring Physical Separation Processes	p. 86
3.8 Integrating Separation Processes into Regulated HACCP Plans	p. 88
3.9 Factors that Can Cause Separation Processes to Fail	p. 89
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 90
4 Applications of Magnetic Separation to Prevent Foreign Material Contamination of Finished Food Products	p. 93
4.1 Introduction	p. 93
4.2 Principles of Magnetism and Materials Utilized in Construction of Permanent Magnets	p. 95
4.2.1 Magnetic Magic Demystified at the Atomic Level	p. 95
4.2.2 Magnetism at the Larger Scale	p. 98
4.3 Why Stainless Steel Can Sometimes Be Culled by Magnetic Separation	p. 99
4.3.1 What Is Stainless Steel?	p. 99
4.4 Common Terms Used to Classify the Properties of Magnets	p. 104
4.5 Composition and Historical Uses of Permanent Magnets in the Food Industry	p. 105
4.6 Types of Magnetic Separators Available for Use in the Food Industry	p. 107
4.6.1 Plate Magnetic Separators	p. 107
4.6.2 Rod Magnets and Other Cylindrical Magnets	p. 110
4.6.3 Liquid Traps	p. 111
4.6.4 Magnetic Pulleys	p. 111
4.6.5 Magnetic Drum Separators	p. 113
4.7 Integrating Magnetic Separators into Existing HACCP and QA Systems	p. 115
4.7.1 Preventative Maintenance and Calibration of Magnetic Separation Equipment	p. 116
4.7.2 In-Process Checks for Contamination Being Present on the Separator	p. 117
4.7.3 Written Procedures for Inspection of Magnetic Separators and Documentation of Results Against Clear Standards	p. 117
4.7.4 Cleaning the Separator Appropriately	p. 118
4.8 Factors to Consider When Selecting a Magnetic Separation Method	p. 118
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 121
5 Principles and Strategies for Using Metal Detectors to Isolate Metallic Foreign Materials from Food Products	p. 123
5.1 Introduction	p. 123
5.2 Metal Detection-A Common CCP Within the Food Industry	p. 124
5.3 General Types of Metal Detectors Used in the Food Industry	p. 125
5.3.1 Triple Coil Designs-Typical Construction and Principle of Operation	p. 126
5.3.2 Ferrous-in-Foil Metal Detectors	p. 140
5.4 Handling Detector Rejects	p. 141
5.5 Recordkeeping	p. 143
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 144
6 Machine Vision and Its Application to Prevent FM Contamination of Foods	p. 145
6.1 Introduction to Machine Vision	p. 145
6.2 How Does a Machine Vision System Work?	p. 146
6.2.1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum and Visible Light	p. 147
6.2.2 What Is Sight?	p. 150
6.2.3 Lighting	p. 152
6.2.4 Photosensors for Machine Vision Systems	p. 154
6.3 Frame Grabbers and Other External Equipment Such as Photoeyes and Signals from PLCs	p. 166
6.4 Machine Vision Computers, Image Processing Software, and Reject Outputs	p. 167
6.4.1 Software Components of Machine Vision Systems	p. 167
6.4.2 Ensuring the Computer Is Dedicated for the Machine Vision System	p. 168
6.5 Reject Mechanisms	p. 169
6.6 Typical Sorting Scenarios Utilized by Machine Vision Systems in Identifying FM	p. 170
6.6.1 256 Gray Scale Thresholding Example	p. 170
6.6.2 RGB Imaging and Thresholding	p. 176
6.6.3 Beyond Thresholding-Compiling Pixels into Objects	p. 177
6.7 Current Machine Vision Applications to Identify FM in Foods	p. 178
6.8 Identification of FM in Packaging Materials	p. 179
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 180
7 X-ray Examination of Foods for Foreign Materials	p. 183
7.1 Introduction to X-ray Inspection Techniques and Their Use	p. 184
7.2 A Brief History of the Discovery of X-rays and Other Governing Principles of Physics	p. 185
7.3 How X-rays Are Generated, and Why They Can Pass Through Materials of Various Density	p. 186
7.3.1 Attenuation of X-rays	p. 189
7.4 How Images Are Produced from X-rays	p. 192
7.4.1 Image Intensifier Systems	p. 193
7.4.2 Photodiode Arrays	p. 195
7.5 X-ray Applications in the Food Industry and Their Components	p. 195
7.5.1 Static or Rotating Image Continuous Phase Bench Systems	p. 196
7.5.2 Offline, or Slow Inline, Continuous Phase Systems	p. 197
7.5.3 Pulsed and Continuous Online Image Intensifying X-ray Systems	p. 198
7.5.4 Line Scan CCDs and Linear Photodiode Array Inspection Systems Without Image Intensifiers	p. 201
7.5.6 Multiangle Inspection Systems	p. 203
7.5.7 Dual-Energy Imaging Systems	p. 203
7.6 Automation of X-ray Analysis	p. 204
7.7 Important Points to Consider When Choosing a System	p. 205
7.7.1 Identify Where the Inspection Will Be Utilized, and What Contaminants Will Be Targeted	p. 205
7.7.2 Identify the Specific Products and Packaging Configurations that Will Be Subjected to Inspection	p. 206
7.7.3 Vendor Service, Credibility, Spare Parts, and Preventative Maintenance	p. 207
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 208
8 Proper Initial Validation, Ongoing Verification, and Change Control for Separation and Detection Equipment	p. 211
8.1 Introduction	p. 211
8.2 Why Go Through the Trouble of Expending Resources on Validation and Verification Strategies?	p. 212
8.3 Who Is Involved in the Validation Process-Is It Just a QA Thing?	p. 212
8.3.1 Validation-Step 1: Defining the Scope	p. 215
8.3.2 Equipment Selection, Vendor Selection, and Acceptance Testing	p. 215
8.3.3 Acceptance Testing Performed at the Vendor Location	p. 217
8.3.4 Installation Qualification (IQ)	p. 218
8.3.5 Operational Qualification (OQ)	p. 219
8.4 Ongoing Verification of Equipment Effectiveness	p. 221
8.4.1 Producing and Handling of Seeded Samples and Test Cards	p. 222
8.4.2 Verification of Detection Equipment Operation	p. 225
8.5 Structured Management of Change Process	p. 225
8.6 Planning for Equipment Failure and Other Emergency Situations	p. 227
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 228
9 Proper Use of Acceptance Sampling and Statistical Process Control to Augment FM Control Programs	p. 229
9.1 Introduction	p. 229
9.2 Types of Data that Can Be Gathered During Inspection or Process Monitoring	p. 231
9.3 Statistically Valid Sampling Plans versus Tribal Practices	p. 233
9.4 What Constitutes a Statistically Valid Acceptance Sampling Plan?	p. 236
9.4.1 Readily Available Acceptance Sampling Plans for Use	p. 238
9.4.2 Properly Using Sampling Plans to Discriminate Between the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly-An Overview of Mil-Std-105-E	p. 238
9.4.3 Reactive Soup LLC-A Case Study in the Use of Mil-Std-105-E	p. 242
9.5 Always Remember the [beta], and Other Acceptance Sampling Pitfalls	p. 250
9.6 Is It Truly Random Sampling?	p. 251
9.7 Using SPC to Monitor the Prevalence of Potential Foreign Material Contaminants	p. 251
9.8 Reactive Gets Proactive	p. 255
9.9 Other Examples of Applying Attribute SPC to Help Prevent Foreign Material Contamination of Foods	p. 263
9.9.1 Tracking Finds on Magnets	p. 263
9.9.2 Rejects from Automated Inspection Equipment (Legitimate and False)	p. 266
9.9.3 Results from Microscopic Analysis of Product	p. 267
9.9.4 GMP Violations in Sensitive Areas	p. 268
9.9.5 Trending Consumer Feedback	p. 269
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 270
10 Management and Communication of Risk in Situations of Crisis	p. 271
10.1 Introduction	p. 271
10.2 Fictional Case Study: Lucky Flakes, the Iron-Fortified Breakfast Cereal	p. 271
10.3 Development of Proactive Risk Management Structure	p. 276
10.3.1 What Defines a Situation that Requires High-Level Risk Management?	p. 277
10.3.2 Define Who Is to Be Directly Involved	p. 278
10.3.3 Defining the Other "Who"-Continuity of Business Operations	p. 279
10.3.4 Develop Defined Communication Channels for Internal Stakeholders	p. 279
10.3.5 Ensuring that Inventory Can Be Traced, Contained, and Accounted For	p. 281
10.3.6 Prepare, Drill, and Follow Up	p. 284
10.3.7 Defining Authority Levels for Product Disposition Decisions	p. 285
10.4 Pulling the Trigger and Recalling Product to Protect Public Health or the Reputation of the Brand	p. 286
10.4.1 Understanding Relevant Federal Regulatory Agency Recall Definitions	p. 286
10.4.2 Market Withdrawals-A Separate Issue	p. 288
10.4.3 Agency Authority to Request a Recall or Seize Product	p. 288
10.4.4 Agency Authority to Reclassify Recall Status and Public Notification	p. 289
10.4.5 Develop and Communicate a Vision of What Success Is	p. 291
10.4.6 Internal Communication Strategies	p. 291
10.4.7 External Communications	p. 292
10.4.8 Actively Engage with and Provide Timely Feedback to the Regulatory Agency	p. 294
10.4.9 Execute Against the Business Continuity Plan	p. 295
10.4.10 Financial Forecasting of Recall Costs	p. 296
10.4.11 Dealing with Returned Product	p. 297
10.4.12 Conduct a "Lessons-Learned" Meeting	p. 298
Works Cited and Select Resources	p. 299
Index	p. 301

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