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Chapter 6:Physical Hazards
Physical hazards are either foreign materials unintentionally introduced to food products (e.g. metal fragments in
mince meat) or naturally occurring objects (e.g. bones in fish) that pose
threats to the consumer.
• A physical hazard can become included in a food product at any stage of production.
• In physical hazards, a foreign object that causes injury or harm is easily identified and is the most frequent reason of consumer complaints.
• Statistically, physical hazards may not be as important as other food hazards. However, they can be considered obnoxious, irritating, unsightly, and inconvenient, and can cause the commercial food establishment to lose its customers.
Main Types of Physical Hazards in Food
Food• Common sources are egg shells, fruit and
vegetable peels, inedible seeds, and fish scales.
Glass
• Common sources found in food processing facilities are light bulbs, glass containers, and glass food containers.
Metals
• Common sources of metal include metal from equipment such as splinters, blades, broken needles, fragments from worn utensils, staples, etc.
Plastic
• Common sources of soft and hard plastics include material used for packaging, gloves worn by food handlers, utensils used for cleaning equipment, and parts of tools used to remove processed food from equipment.
Stone
• Field crops, such as peas and beans, are most likely to contain small stones that are picked up during harvesting. Concrete structures and floor 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.
Cloth
• Common sources are fragment of rags, hot pads, and sponges.
Insects and Rodents
• Common sources are fur, fecal pellets, eggs, wings, legs, nesting materials, and discarded seed shells.
Personal effects
• Common sources are the food handlers themselves. This would include their hair, nails, jewelry, bandages, and cigarette butts.
Example of injuries as a result of physical hazards are cuts to the mouth or throat, damage to teeth
or gums, cuts in the hand, infection, burns, damage to the intestines and choking.
The latter could be life threatening and is considered the most serious consequence, even
in the filing of legal suits.
In severe situations, physical hazards can even cause death, in which financial
obligations by the party involved would be tremendous.
Choking and Preventive Measures
• Choking occurs when food or small objects get caught in the throat or block the airway, preventing oxygen from traveling to the lungs and brain.
• After more than four minutes without oxygen, brain damage or death may occur.
• Choking may be caused by the food itself, depending on the texture, size of the bolus (round mass), and shape.
• Examples are sticky and gummy food (tikoy, bubble gum, and peanut butter), long cylindrical pieces, big spherical objects (hot dogs), or big bolus of food.
• These items could block the air passage or go to the windpipe, instead of passing to the esophagus.
• Infants, young children, the elderly, or a person suffering from dysphagia (impaired swallowing reflex) are vulnerable to choking or asphyxiation.
• Old age, poor dentition, and alcohol consumption also contribute to choking on food.
• Large pieces of food should not be given to children, the elderly, or to any individuals who are incapable of chewing the food before swallowing it.
• It is also beneficial to be trained to perform the Heimlich maneuver and cardio pulmonary resuscitation, or to travel with those who are trained in these procedures.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the FDA established the following guidelines to determine
the foreign material present in the food consumed is physically
hazardous or not:
• A spherical object under 1.75 inches in diameter, is dangerous to children below three years old.
• Bones over two centimeters are likely to cause injury. Less than one centimeter is not considered a hazard.
• Any sharp, pointed object equal to or greater than seven millimeters is considered a physical hazard.
• However, irrespective of the size and shape, safety issues are still considered on a case-to-case basis because of other factors like age, ability to swallow, and conditions of the oral cavity.
• The texture and consistency of the food is also a determining factor.
Thermal hazards
• Include serving very hot food that, when consumed or spilled on people, can cause severe burns or tissue injury.
• When hot foods are served, people must be warned to handle them properly.
• It is better food to be served at temperatures that will not cause injury or harm.
• Examples of food causing injury to consumers include pizza, cream soups, chocolate, and coffee served at 1700F (76.70C) or above;
• Jelly Bismarks overheated in a microwave; and baby food or baby formula overheated in a microwave oven in temperatures exceeding 120F (48.90C)
Jelly Bismark
Prevention of Common Physical Hazards
• Inspect raw materials and food ingredients for field contaminants (e.g. stones in cereals) that were not found during the initial receiving process.
• Follow good storage practices and evaluate potential risks in storage areas (e.g. 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 and packaging materials.
• Specifications should contain standards for evaluating the acceptability of ingredients or packaging materials.
• For instance, 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 (e.g. metal detectors or magnets to detect metal fragments in the production line, and filters or screens to remove foreign objects at the receiving point).
• Properly and regularly maintain the equipment in the facility to avoid sources of physical hazards such as foreign materials that can come from worn out equipment.
• Maintain sufficient lighting in work areas and dining rooms to make it more conducive for identifying any foreign object that may have been accidentally added to the food. Light bulbs should be protected with an unbreakable shield.
• Periodic employee training on shipping, receiving, storing, handling, maintaining and calibrating equipment will also help prevent physical hazards from being introduced to food products.
Detection and Elimination of Physical Hazards
Metal Detectors
• Are used to detect metal in food products.
• They should be set up to reject products from the food production line if metal were to be detected.
• Proper maintenance should be given to this equipment to ensure they are always accurate and not 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.
Acknowledgment:
Textbook:
Food Safety and Sanitation
By:
Mary Jean C. Ang
And
Hannah A. Balanon
C & E Publishing, inc., 2010 edition
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