Prevention, risk minimization keep foreign materials out

Minimizing foreign material contamination in chicken products comes down to maximizing prevention and minimizing risk.

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(MONIPHOTO | BigStock.com)
(MONIPHOTO | BigStock.com)

Minimizing foreign material contamination in chicken products comes down to maximizing prevention and minimizing risk.

Dr. Lee Johnson, vice president of technical services at West Liberty Foods LLC (WLF), spoke about the further processing company’s experience dealing with the constant challenge of foreign materials contamination in poultry products. Johnson gave his advice and shared his solutions for one of the industry’s most visible issues. He spoke as part of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s Poultry Processor Workshop in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 23, 2019.

Learning from experience

About five years ago, he said, the company dealt with a serious recall based on a shovel falling into a piece of machinery. Johnson said the recall taught him and WLF a lot about how its processes work and helped it identify areas of weakness.

Using that negative experience, the company established a foreign material prevention strategy based on two core ideas: preventing, and minimizing the risk of, materials from getting into food. In general, it’s a facility and companywide approach focused on starting small. Find and fix small, procedural problems before they turn into huge problems that force management to think and decide under duress.

Prevention

Johnson said while there is high concern about foodborne pathogens, recalls due to foreign contamination are the top issue facing poultry processing.

No one wants a recall. It’s bad for the reputation of the companies involved, as well as the industry overall, it draws regulatory scrutiny and it’s a loss of otherwise-saleable product.

The first phase is preventing the entrance of foreign materials to the foodstuffs. A lot of this, he said, comes down to proper maintenance of machinery and equipment. Ensuring all parts are properly affixed to their machines, or are properly stored when not in use, and in a good state of repair prevents machine malfunctions and stops loose parts from entering the product.

Along with maintenance, management must routinely inspect the facility for deterioration that could lead to contamination. He said belts, for instance, age and fall apart and some parts can wind up in the product.

The final plank of this prevention strategy is a weekly report that sums up all foreign materials reports across the organization. He said both measuring the problem and bringing the issue to the attention of the whole staff helps put corrective actions in place quicker. 

Minimizing risk

For minimizing risk, Johnson said it’s a continuous exercise in constant improvement of the operation. He shared several considerations to reduce the possibility of introducing contaminants during processing.

Parts can go missing and sometimes wind up in the product. He recommended putting together accountability programs where parts that routinely fail or go missing, such as gaskets, are counted regularly to ensure they are present and working.

For larger tools, he said putting together a so-called shadow board with outlines of where tools and parts are supposed to be stored when not in use is helpful. It serves as a constant reminder to replace items and highlights when something does go missing.

Another way to add accountability and traceability to the process is by color coding materials by their department of origin. That way, if a certain color of plastic is consistently winding up in meat, that specific area of the plant can be scrutinized and improved.

Inbound materials

As a further processor, WLF handles inbound materials from other supplier regularly and must apply increased efforts toward keeping contaminants from sneaking into the process.

No one is perfect when it comes to foreign materials. Johnson said the company uses a variety of methods to find them.

When a supplier is known to have problems, all its product is inspected using light tables allowing easier vision of hidden pollutants. The light tables do not work as well on frozen product as they do on fresh, however.

Moreover, all the chicken that comes in is X-rayed primarily to find bones. The machines can find 90% to 95% of all bones, he said. WLF uses in-line metal detection on its own processed product, too.

Contaminants can come in other ways, too. Johnson said when marinating or brining, those liquid products should be filtered before they reach the chicken.

Palates are a constant for processors dealing with inbound materials. Johnson said both wood and plastic palates have their own pros and cons, but for him the plastic palates are superior for preventing contamination. If the plastic palates are properly maintained, he said, they can be regularly sanitized, reused and even repaired.

Trust but verify

Preventing contamination, and ultimately recalls, comes down to paying attention to the details, Johnson said. Everyone should know what to watch for and what they should do regularly.

Furthermore, management must trust but verify when it comes to recovering a lost item that could create a contamination issue. Even if it seems like the missing pieces of the screwdriver must be on the floor somewhere, don’t decide the issue’s resolved until everything is recovered.

Finding 80% of the contaminant doesn’t matter when the 20% winds up in a finished product and creates a high-profile recall. In these situations, diligence and commitment prevent major losses.

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