Common contaminants that bug the food industry

For the food industry, the challenge of preventing contamination is a daily struggle, not least because it can take so many different forms and arise from many different sources. Compared with pharma production, where the starting ingredients and production conditions are relatively easy to specify and maintain, the food industry has starting conditions that are almost completely random.

Most food production starts on a farm, where weather conditions, insect infest-ations and soil quality are not so easy to manage. Then, there are different crops, which can create a range of requirements for handling or processing. Even within the food processing facility, there are many variables to consider, and plenty of reasons why contamination control requires careful planning and execution.

The most obvious contaminants are foreign bodies. These can be anything – from externally derived sources, such as plant stems, insect body parts, fragments of packaging material and bits of machinery to internally derived sediments or crystallised ingredients. The customer sees something that should not be in the food and considers it to be contaminated.

Microbial contamination is potentially more serious and likely to affect more products. Sometimes such contamination might be detectable by sight, smell or taste, but often no one would know it was there until they fell ill.

Chemical contaminants are also usually invisible, except where they induce a colour change, but again they can produce unwanted smells or flavours in products, even at astonishingly low concentrations. Some tainting chemicals, like the halo-anisoles, are potent at levels well below 100 parts per trillion.

Within these broad categories of contaminants there are sub-divisions and crossovers, and it is necessary to understand these before designing any measures for their control.

Another class of contamination that concerns the industry greatly is the issue of allergens. This class of contaminant can be controlled, but requires specific measures and controls over and above the normal requirements for hygiene, for example.

Better than cure

It is impossible to give a definitive account of what needs to be done to prevent contamination in every case. The issues for a producer of bottled water are different from those facing a producer of meat pies. That said, there are common principles that can be observed, and for every food producer, the starting point for controlling contamination should be the application of good manufacturing practice (GMP) or ‘pre-requisite programmes’ within the production environment.

The importance of GMP in the food industry cannot be overstated. It is the case, however, that despite enormous knowledge about the topics covered by GMP, the food industry does not always pay sufficient attention to their integrity and design.

Similarly, it does not always appreciate the need to monitor these aspects of its operation actively and routinely to ensure they are working effectively and efficiently. Effective GMP is, however, vital as it forms the foundation for the safety of the food produced, when used in conjunction with an effective HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) plan.

HACCP has been a mandatory require-ment within the food industry in the EU since the beginning of 2006. Essentially, it requires manufacturers to make a thorough risk assessment of their production processes and procedures, including supplier specifications and distribution channels, to determine where there is a risk of contamination or other hazard, and to establish control measures for these hazards.

A good HACCP plan will not only ensure that hazards are identified and managed effectively, but it should also prevent unnecessary and expensive control measures being used. However, it does depend on an accurate assessment of the hazards, which in turn demands that the producer fully understands both its process and the ingredients being handled and processed.

In respect of ingredients, this understanding must be far-reaching and detailed. For example, even if the producer makes a product that contains no nuts and has no nuts anywhere on the premises, it is important that it is understood whether the olive oil used has been processed in a facility that also processes peanut oil. Moreover, it is important to have the kind of relationship with suppliers that means that even if the oil currently supplied does not come into contact with peanut oil during the supplier’s process, any change to the situation will automatically result in an immediate notification to the customer.

While this example is applicable to allergen control, it demonstrates the need to consider the risk of contamination within the supply chain. Specifications must be set to dictate the quality of any supplies, and if necessary, controls should be established to verify that specifications are being met.

Within one’s own production facility, the potential to control or prevent contamination is greater. On the other hand, the potential to cause contamination is also great.

RSSL’s Emergency Response Service (ERS) investigates contamination incidents on behalf of a wide range of food, drink and pharmaceutical producers, and it is often shown to be simple mistakes that give rise to contamination incidents.

For example, routine maintenance can easily lead to a drop of oil contaminating a production batch. Over zealous addition of cleaning chemicals, or inadequate rinsing might mean traces of cleaning chemicals giving rise to a taint. Poor personal hygiene among staff is frequently the root cause of microbial contamination. Inappropriate storage of packaging materials is often the starting point for the halo-anisole taints referred to above.

It is impossible to detail every control measure required for every potential hazard. But it is possible to ensure the principles of HACCP are fully understood and applied effectively to a specific production situation. In addition to providing training in HACCP, RSSL Food Training also offers courses specifically in microbiology and allergen control. It is perhaps naïve to assume that contamination can be prevented entirely. Food would have to be grown and processed in such a sterile environment as to be tasteless and unpalatable. However, there are strategies around setting specifications with suppliers, around testing, storing, handling and processing of ingredients and packaging, around routine cleaning and maintenance of equipment. And of course, around staff hygiene that can go along way to preventing contamination incidents.