Following recent news that the strawberry contamination scare has now spread across the country to include a case in Western Australia, it has been widely reported that a number of suppliers have installed metal detectors on their conveyors to scan punnets of strawberries for contaminants to safeguard consumer health and safety and protect their companies against costly product recalls.
While the source of contamination in these instances is beyond the supplier’s packaging line; these incidents highlight the importance of employing a metal detector on a food processing or production line. If anything, they act as an relatively affordable insurance policy of sorts in the event some deranged individual(s) decides to spike products with contaminants at point of sale. Being able to report that the source of contamination did not originate from your production line will insulate your products from being included in trade or retail recalls.
Any food recall incident is a crisis situation that requires quick action to mitigate any longstanding financial and reputational damage.
So, take time to read this report on the different factors that can make food producers, processors and manufacturers vulnerable to a recall, even with inspection equipment in place, and how these risks can be addressed.
And if you are looking at ways to ensure that your organisation’s Quality Assurance Program is never compromised, consult the product inspection experts at AccuPak about your requirements.