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    Physical Hazards in Food

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    Stella Lupita June Tjandra
    Physical hazards are unintended foreign objects or naturally occurring substances in food that can cause injury to consumers. Common physical hazards include glass, metal, plastic, stones, and wood that enter the food supply from packaging, equipment, or during growing and processing. Physical hazards are classified based on their likelihood and severity of harm. Food processors can prevent physical hazards through inspection of ingredients, equipment maintenance, staff training, and use of detection methods like metal detectors during production.

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    Physical Hazards in Food

    Uploaded by

    Stella Lupita June Tjandra
    522 views5 pages
    Physical hazards are unintended foreign objects or naturally occurring substances in food that can cause injury to consumers. Common physical hazards include glass, metal, plastic, stones, and wood that enter the food supply from packaging, equipment, or during growing and processing. Physical hazards are classified based on their likelihood and severity of harm. Food processors can prevent physical hazards through inspection of ingredients, equipment maintenance, staff training, and use of detection methods like metal detectors during production.

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    Physical Hazards in Food

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    Physical hazards are unintended foreign objects or naturally occurring substances in food that can cause injury to consumers. Common physical hazards include glass, metal, plastic, stones, and wood that enter the food supply from packaging, equipment, or during growing and processing. Physical hazards are classified based on their likelihood and severity of harm. Food processors can prevent physical hazards through inspection of ingredients, equipment maintenance, staff training, and use of detection methods like metal detectors during production.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    522 views5 pages

    Physical Hazards in Food

    Uploaded by

    Stella Lupita June Tjandra
    Physical hazards are unintended foreign objects or naturally occurring substances in food that can cause injury to consumers. Common physical hazards include glass, metal, plastic, stones, and wood that enter the food supply from packaging, equipment, or during growing and processing. Physical hazards are classified based on their likelihood and severity of harm. Food processors can prevent physical hazards through inspection of ingredients, equipment maintenance, staff training, and use of detection methods like metal detectors during production.

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    of 5

    Physical Hazards in Food

    What are physical hazards?


    Physical Hazards in Food

    Physical hazards are either foreign materials unintentionally


    introduced to food products (ex: metal fragments in mince meat) or
    naturally occurring objects (ex: bones in fish) that are a threat to the
    consumer. A physical hazard can enter a food product at any stage of
    production. Hard or sharp objects are potential physical hazards and
    can cause:

    cuts to the mouth or throat

    damage to the intestine

    damage to teeth or gums

    What are Physical Hazards

    What are Some Common Physical


    Hazards?

    How are Physical Hazards


    Classified?

    How to Develop an Effective


    Physical Hazard Plan for Your
    Facility

    Are There Acceptable Levels of


    Physical Hazards in Food Products?

    How can Common Physical Hazards


    be Prevented?

    How are Physical Hazards Detected


    and Eliminated?

    References

    What are some common physical hazards?


    The main types of physical hazards in food include:

    Glass: common sources found in food processing


    facilities are light bulbs, glass containers and glass
    food containers

    Metal: common sources of metal include metal from


    equipment such as splinters, blades, broken needles,
    fragments from worn utensils, staples, etc.

    Plastics: common sources of soft and hard plastics include material used for packaging, gloves worn
    by food handlers, utensils used for cleaning equipment or from tools used to remove processed food
    from equipment.

    Stones: field crops, such as peas and beans, are most likely to contain small stones picked up during
    harvesting. Concrete structures and floors in food processing facilities can also be a source of small
    stones.

    Wood: common sources of wood come from wood structures and wooden pallets used to store or

    transport ingredients or food products.


    How are physical hazards classified?
    The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) defines three classes of physical hazards depending on their
    likelihood and the severity of the consequences:

    Category I (high likelihood)

    Category II (moderate likelihood)

    Category III (low risk

    The agency also rates the likelihood of occurrence based on the level of control that a food processor has to
    eliminate the risk:

    Good control measures established, but minor infractions occur.

    Low Risk
    Some control measures established, but gaps or inconsistencies occur.

    Medium Risk
    Little or no control established. Major and critical infractions occur.

    High Risk

    Every food process has its own specific and potential hazards. Evaluation of the type of product, the intended market
    for the product and other factors need to be considered to determine the risk category for a possible physical hazard.

    How to develop an effective physical hazards plan for your facility


    To develop an effective physical hazard identification program, processors need to collect detailed information for
    every step of every food process in the facility. Information on potential physical hazards can be obtained by closely
    observing each process during all phases of its operation. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
    developed a Reference Database for Hazard Identification that contains valuable reference information for food
    processors. A new version of database is currently under revision and will be available soon. For more information
    on the database contact the Manitoba CFIA office at 204-983-2200 in Winnipeg.
    Are there acceptable limits of physical hazards in food products?
    The acceptable Canadian levels or limits of foreign materials in a food product vary from industry to industry and
    from product to product. The CFIA recommends consulting the Food and Drugs Regulations for specifications on

    allowable materials in different food products. For more information call at (613) 957-0360 in Ottawa, toll free 1866-225-0709.
    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established U.S. guidelines on hard and sharp objects in foods.
    This document provides information on classification of hard and sharp objects, possible consumer injuries, sources
    of physical hazards, control measures, etc. Information from this document can be useful as a reference for your
    process. For instance:

    Hard or sharp objects of seven to twenty-five millimeters in length represent a potential physical
    hazard in food.

    Hard or sharp natural components in food (ex: shells in nut products) represent a physical hazard
    that causes injury if consumers do not know that they are a natural food component.

    When natural hard or sharp hazards are normally removed from foods, but are done improperly
    such as pit fragments in pitted cherries.

    For more information call at: 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332).

    How can common physical hazards be prevented?


    There are many ways food processors can prevent physical hazards in food products, including:

    Inspect raw materials and food ingredients for field contaminants (ex: stones in cereals) that were
    not found during the initial receiving process.

    Follow good storage practices and evaluate potential risks in storage areas (ex: sources of
    breakable glass such as light bulbs, staples from cartons, etc.) and use protective acrylic bulbs or
    lamp covers.

    Develop specifications and controls for all ingredients and components, including raw materials
    and packaging materials. Specifications should contain standards for evaluating acceptability of
    ingredients or packaging materials (ex: recycled cardboard used for packaging sometimes contains
    traces of metals that can be detected by metal detectors. A limit for metal detection should be
    established to avoid false positive detection of metal in food).

    Set up an effective detection and elimination system for physical hazards in your facility (ex:
    metal detectors or magnets to detect metal fragments in the production line, filters or screens to
    remove foreign objects at the receiving point).

    Properly and regularly maintain the equipment in your facility to avoid sources of physical
    hazards such as foreign materials that can come from worn out equipment.

    Periodic employee training on shipping, receiving, storing, handling, equipment maintenance and
    calibration will also help prevent physical hazards from being introduced into food products.

    How are physical hazards detected and eliminated?


    There are several methods available to detect foreign bodies in food on processing production lines:

    Metal detectors will detect metal in food products. They should be set up to reject products from
    the food production line if metal is detected. Proper maintenance should be given to this
    equipment to ensure they are always accurate and dont produce false positives.

    Magnets can be used with metal detectors on food production lines to attract and remove metal
    from products.

    X-Ray machines can be used on food production lines to identify hazards such as stones, bones
    and hard plastics, as well as metal.

    Food radar systems transmit low-power microwaves through food products to identify foreign
    bodies such as metals, plastics, bones, kernels and organic materials in food on production lines.

    References
    Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
    US, Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
    Olsen, A.R. (1998). Regulatory action criteria for filth and other extraneous materials. Review of hard or sharp
    foreign objects as physical hazards in food. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 28, 181-189.

    For information on the Food Safety Initiative contact FSI Staff at:
    manitoba.ca/agriculture/foodsafety/fsi/cfs10s17.html. For more technical information, call 204-795-7968 in
    Winnipeg; or e-mail [email protected]. For general information, contact your local GO Centre or visit
    manitoba.ca/agriculture/contact/agoffices.html.

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