9 Foreign Material

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12 JULY/AUGUST 2007 AIB UPDATE

Thirty five years of food industry ex-perience has granted many learningopportunities. I’ve seen firsthand the

damage foreign material contaminationcan do to a business. From the get gofood plants must understand that theonly way to reduce and eliminate foreignmaterial contamination is with a teameffort. The following list is a collectionof suggestions to help reduce the foreignmaterial complaints in your plant.

1. During GMP training, devote a fewminutes to preventing foreign mate-rial.

2. Train Food Safety Team members on where and how to look for foreignmaterial problems during monthly self-inspections. Include the line foreman orsupervisor for each department whenthat area is inspected.

3. The supervisor or lead personnel should walk the production line at the begin-ning of each shift to look for items thatcould fall into the product zone.

4. Examine and investigate all foreignmaterial complaints until a resolutionhas been determined.

5. Complete a foreign material hunt eachmonth. Collect all items on the floor,and near and around 15 feet of theproduct zone in a bag. Have the FoodSafety Team members determine howthe items got into that location.

6. A detailed program should be in placefor the daily inspection of sifter tailings.If foreign materials are discovered, im-mediate follow-up should occur.

7. A weekly, thorough inspection of thesifter screens is necessary. Other for-

Quality Assurance

By Joe Huseman

0 6ReduceWAYS TO

CONTAMINATION

Oh No!Not Another Foreign

Material Complaint!



JULY/AUGUST AIB UPDATE 13

eign material detection devices such asstrainers, filters and magnets need to beinspected regularly.

8. Personnel should not put pencils, tools,thermometers, fittings, paperwork, etc.over or around the product zone where

vibration can cause the item to fall intothe product.

9. When unloading a rack of trays, startfrom the bottom to the top. Whenloading a rack, start from the top to thebottom. The rule of thumb is that thereshould always be a “visible hole” all the way to the floor.

10. Keep lids on product tanks and CIPtanks.

11. Keep doors closed and windowsscreened to prevent wind drafts and to

exclude flying insects.12. When returning ingredients to the

warehouse for storage, containers andbags should be dusted off.

13. Partial bags and containers should betightly closed when they are stored in the warehouse to prevent trash and splintersfrom getting into the ingredients.

14. All bulk liquids should be filtered at re-ceiving. Inspect the strainer after receiv-ing for trash and holes in the strainer.

15. A dome cover or “bee bonnet” shouldbe used on all manholes for all liquidbulk trailers.

16. All piping, grabbers, tools and samplingequipment should be stored in a sanitarymanner and not on the floor where dirtcan be transferred into the product.

17. Food contact cleaning brushes andbrushes used to sweep off the productzone or containers should be stored ina sanitary condition.

18. It is a good practice to brush off theoutside of ingredient bags and tear off

the outer layer before dumping theingredient.

19. Use a sharp knife or tool to cut bags, soyou don’t have shredded edges.

20. When dumping ingredients into ahopper or opening, it is best to keep as

much of the bag or container outsidethe product zone and not over the open-ing.

21. Wash off and clean the outside of five-gallon pail lids when preparing to dumpingredients.

22. Only open ingredients for immediateuse, not two to three hours ahead oftime.

23. All intermediate products stored in cool-ers or staged in production for later useshould be kept covered and protected

from condensation.24. Employees should not carry pencils

behind their ears in the productiondepartment.

25. Employee uniforms should not haveshirt pockets and nothing should becarried above the waste.

26. There should be no buttons on em-ployee uniforms.

27. It is a good practice to use a lint rolleron the uniform, especially the neckline,before entering the production floor toremove loose hairs and threads.

28. Any loose threads on the uniformshould be removed.

29. Catch pans should be installed underthe transmissions of all conveyor drivemotors that are over the product zoneto eliminate grease/oil leaking into prod-uct. This should include motors that areover the floor. On some occasions pansor ingredients might be stored underthese motors.

30. Catch pans should be mounted under

the ceiling exhaust fans. This area inthe ceiling is difficult to clean and oldproduct dust could fall out of the fanframework into the product zone.

31. All shredded edges should be trimmedoff rubber and cloth conveyor belts.

32. No MOM (metal-on-metal) itemsshould be present. This includes wherea metal agitator rubs against the framework of the lid or where a conveyorchute touches other framework in avibratory manner.

33. No peeling or actively flaking paintor rust is permitted over the productzone.

34. Are the covers that should be over theproduct zone in good repair? Are somemissing? Some may not have been put

back in place after cleaning. Also makesure the cover has not been bent and thatit covers the product zone sufficiently.

35. Remove all excess grease from fittings.During a day’s production, bearingshave a tendency to get warm and greasecan ooze out. Operators should wipeoff excess grease during the productionshift.

36. Inspect the coating on all shatter shieldlight bulbs for peeling and flaking.

37. All water used as an ingredient shouldbe filtered prior to use to eliminate smallpieces of solder, rust and sand particles.Check for rust buildup on the insideof ice water chillers. The chilled watershould be filtered before transferring tothe product.

38. Inspect product shovels, ingredientscoops, dough pump augers, scrap-ers, etc. at least weekly and file roughedges.

39. Eliminate loose caulking in cracks and joints, especially in moist environments



14 JULY/AUGUST 2007 AIB UPDATE

similar to the ceilings of bread and bunproof boxes.

40. Do not use corrugated board, card-board, tape, twist ties or wire for tempo-rary repairs. After a while, it is no longertemporary and becomes permanent. Wire can rust, cardboard and tape canget wet, moldy, and shred, becomingan unsanitary condition and a possibleforeign material problem.

41. Pay attention to the quality of the waterhose. The rubber hose can deteriorateon the inside and “black pepper specks”can get onto the product surface duringcleaning and transfer to the product.

42. Maintenance technicians need to cleanup after themselves. Do not leavemaintenance debris and parts near andaround the product zone.

43. Maintenance technicians should cut offthe loose Teflon tape that is left on pipeunions, especially if it is over the productzone.

44. Pipes over the product zone should beinsulated to eliminate condensation.

45. Cut off the long plastic ends on the tie wraps that are used to hold everythingin place. They get brittle, are difficult toclean and can fall into the product.

46. Knives and blades used to cut bags of

ingredients should be attached witha cable, especially if over the productzone.

47. Try to avoid placing any laminated safetysigns over the product zone. Over timethey can shred and become worn ordelaminated.

48. The top step near the crossover platformshould have a backsplash protectioncover to prevent dirt from getting in thenearby conveyor of exposed product.

49. Any plastic shavings especially aroundpackaging and filling equipment shouldbe removed during the productionrun.

50. Discard shredded cloth breather socksand transfer socks. Sometimes sockthreads can show up in the tailingsinspection.

51. Cracked gaskets should be discardedand rubber gaskets should be changedroutinely to eliminate pieces from get-ting into the product flow.

52. Air and water filters should be usedat the final point before touching theproduct to eliminate oil, trash, solder,sand, etc.

53. X-ray machines can be used to screenfor shells and pieces of bones.

54. Clean fan covers so that product buildup

cannot blow onto the product zone.55. Personnel should take precautions

when spraying down floors and equip-ment to avoid overspray from gettingonto food contact surfaces.

56. Personnel should remove all plasticbags that are used to cover electricalpanels after cleanup. Sometimes thebags hold water and product debris andcan become moldy, slimy, and begin toshred.

57. Prevent old discolored product fromfalling onto good product from cross-over conveyors. Conveyors may needmore frequent cleaning. Also, catchcloths can be installed under the over-head conveyor.

58.Overhead cleaning should be on afrequent basis to eliminate old product

dust on I-beams and ceiling struc-tures.

59. Evaluate and inspect all cleaningbrushes and “green rags” for loose fibersand loose bristles.

60. Keep all cleaning and sanitizer chemi-cal drums covered, because whateveris inside the drum may end up on thefood contact surface. AIB

The author is an auditor at AIB International.

Quality Assurance

weanling calves and pigs or used as a binder forfloating or sinking aquaculture feeds (1).

Gluten products also have a wide variety ofnon-food uses. These include cosmetic (e.g.,shampoos, conditioners, toothpastes, creams,lotions and shaving products), pharmaceutical(e.g., binder for tablets) and therapeutic (e.g.,post-operative drainage) applications, as wellas use in the production of coatings, cigarette

filters, chewing gum, detergents, concrete,textiles, leathers and adhesives for ceramicsand plywood (1).

NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS. Wheat glutencontains approximately 75–80 percent pro-tein. Thus, its primary nutritional usage is forprotein supplementation, with applications ina variety of products such as specialty bever-ages and bar formulas. While wheat glutenis limited in its content of the amino acidlysine, it is still an effective protein fortificant,

especially when used in conjunction with soy,

food uses. Prominent among these are itsmeat applications, either as a binder, extenderor restructurer for meat products (e.g., turkey,beef, pork or lamb) or as an ingredient in theproduction of simulated or imitation meats(e.g., hamburger, sausage or crab analogs).Gluten products also are incorporated intoother such food systems as ice cream, soy sauce,

breadings, coffee whiteners, protein fortifiedbeverages, puddings, sherbets, frozen desserts,and egg white and dairy replacers (1).

In applications in foods for human con-sumption, gluten products are used extensivelyin pet foods and animal feeds. In pet foods, itis important for a variety of reasons, includingits high protein content, its binding ability(to absorb meat juices and to hold chunks ofmeat together), and its ability to be used inproducing simulated meat products. As a feedingredient for other animals, gluten products

may be incorporated into milk replacers for

(continued from page 9) a protein source high in lysine. U.S. govern-ment regulations allow for fortification offoods with protein (2), and wheat gluten isone of a variety of sources that can be usedfor this purpose.

Wheat protein can cause adverse reactionsin susceptible individuals, and thus wheatis included as one of the Big 8 allergens for which product labeling is required (3). Celiacs

and other individuals with a wheat or glutenallergy or sensitivity should avoid consuminggluten-containing products. AIB

REFERENCES

1. MANINGAT, C.C., BASSI, S, and HESSER, J.M. Wheat Gluten in Food and Non-food Systems. Techni-cal Bulletin, AIB International, Volume XVI, Issue 6, June 1994.

2. Code of Federal Regulations. 21CFR104.20. U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington, DC,2006 (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_06/21cfr104_06.html).

3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for FoodSafety and Applied Nutrition. Food Allergen Labelingand Consumer Protection Act of 2004, August 2, 2004

(http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/alrgact.html).

Wheat Gluten

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9 Foreign Material