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Mixed Loads of Food Contact Packaging Material & Organic Peroxides

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noahchris97

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 03:57 PM

Morning All,

         I have been in Food Manufacturing pretty much my whole life 18+yrs.  Now I am at the back end of things; Food Contact Packaging Material. Big difference. But I know some rules still apply. I'm the SQF Practitioner / Compliance supervisor for a flexible bag packaging company in NY area. At this facility we are transitioning  from AIB to SQF Level 2. the company is family owned and there is still a lot of that mom & pop culture here. Which brings me up to my problem I'm facing. I know its wrong, but to convince others is the challenging part. ( the old school mentality ) 

        We ship & receive raw material & finish product on loads ( mixed loads) that are known to carry and have Organic peroxides- a dangerous flammable, unstable, strong odor chemical. I know my past experiences, if that truck open its doors and had that on their truck, it would automatically be rejected and sent away.

         Believe me I know what to do in this situation, but the excuses I am getting is that " we are a small company, we cant short our customers, we cant miss any deadlines, this is what we always been doing. I'm just looking for some advice or a different approach to this situation.

 

Thanks,

 



Snookie

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 05:07 PM

Do  a risk assessment.  It may be that the plastics are absorbing some of that odor, see if that is the case and demonstrate the issue.  I too went from food to packaging and I would bounce that kind of a load as well in my old days.  I have encountered this kind of thinking a lot.  I used to a framed desk size picture on my desk.  You can only use with people who have sense of humor but it got the point across that we needed to think about our processes.  The last poster is a reminder that the few pennies we save us up front can cost a lot on the back end. 

 

traditiondemotivator.jpg

 

 

This is my other favorite: 

 

Medicrity.jpg


Edited by Snookie, 14 January 2015 - 05:10 PM.

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Setanta

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 05:13 PM

How close are you to the customers or QA people you ship to?  Maybe if they rejected a load because it smelled, or they noticed the promximity to organic peroxides, that would have more impact.  :thumbdown:


-Setanta         

 

 

 


noahchris97

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 05:19 PM

 Snookie,  Thanks for the input. I just received some information back from an SQF auditor. They mentioned that I have to treat food contact material as an ingredient, meaning follow all standards that apply as it was a food product....

 

 

 Love the pictures.....

Thanks



noahchris97

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 05:42 PM

How close are you to the customers or QA people you ship to?  Maybe if they rejected a load because it smelled, or they noticed the promximity to organic peroxides, that would have more impact.  :thumbdown:

Setanta, Thanks for the reply. Our customers are near and far. I have been called to the dock numerous times to look at a truck that is caring O. peroxides and the odor is just to over whelming. You really get knocked in the face upon entering the truck. Most to all know that plastic absorbs. In consulting with others, they will just reject a truck just based on the " At Risk " factor... Plus doing a risk assessment would not be enough to guarantee that the mixed will not contaminate  the finished product either by odor or being splashed or leaked on during transport...like my post to Snookie, SQF auditor said to treat food contact material as an food ingredient..

 

Thanks,



it_rains_inside

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 07:12 PM

NY eh?? Mr. I will be happy to add one more to his list!

 

Anyways, our company receives / uses 35% Food Grade H202 and noahchris97 is absolutely right. This stuff burns your throat.

Treating food contact material as a food ingredient is the smartest thing to do here. And letting a few trucks get rejected to make a point might also be what is necessary here. Its no fun to play the " I told you so " card, but if you've documented that you are aware of the problem and brought it to the attention of others and no action is being taken to mitigate this risk, then let them go. As Snookie said - A risk assessment would go a long way in this case. 

 

But absolutely - the best way to make your point, validate your suspicions about the mixed loads. Even if it is uncomfortable because there is a chance things will go south. Keep records of rejected trucks and the reasons. Keep track of the costs associated. When / if containers are returned due to this condition, do some tests on them, whatever you can to validate that the mixed loads is a risk.

 

Let us know how it turns out!


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Setanta

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 07:19 PM

Setanta, Thanks for the reply. Our customers are near and far. I have been called to the dock numerous times to look at a truck that is caring O. peroxides and the odor is just to over whelming. You really get knocked in the face upon entering the truck. Most to all know that plastic absorbs. In consulting with others, they will just reject a truck just based on the " At Risk " factor... Plus doing a risk assessment would not be enough to guarantee that the mixed will not contaminate  the finished product either by odor or being splashed or leaked on during transport...like my post to Snookie, SQF auditor said to treat food contact material as an food ingredient..

 

Thanks,

 

I only meant close as in...did you know them well enough to ask them to do this?   :smile:


Edited by Setanta, 14 January 2015 - 07:39 PM.

-Setanta         

 

 

 


noahchris97

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 07:37 PM

I only meant close as in...did you know them well enough to ask them to do this?   :smile:

Lol... In that case no. Was hesitant to do so as I was thinking the same thing, but it can go both ways, getting great feed back or  " YOU DID WHAT " Kinda thing..



noahchris97

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 07:47 PM

NY eh?? Mr. I will be happy to add one more to his list!

 

Anyways, our company receives / uses 35% Food Grade H202 and noahchris97 is absolutely right. This stuff burns your throat.

Treating food contact material as a food ingredient is the smartest thing to do here. And letting a few trucks get rejected to make a point might also be what is necessary here. Its no fun to play the " I told you so " card, but if you've documented that you are aware of the problem and brought it to the attention of others and no action is being taken to mitigate this risk, then let them go. As Snookie said - A risk assessment would go a long way in this case. 

 

But absolutely - the best way to make your point, validate your suspicions about the mixed loads. Even if it is uncomfortable because there is a chance things will go south. Keep records of rejected trucks and the reasons. Keep track of the costs associated. When / if containers are returned due to this condition, do some tests on them, whatever you can to validate that the mixed loads is a risk.

 

Let us know how it turns out!

Hello to you too.lol..It_ rains_inside,

         We have a checklist for all shipping & receiving activities including reasons for rejections. The rejection process is being documented...( my butt is covered ).. I wish there was some kind of hand held air quality tester that determines the air quality right there on the spot. But again if your choking your brains out, its common sense...

 

Thanks,



Snookie

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 08:22 PM

Plus doing a risk assessment would not be enough to guarantee that the mixed will not contaminate  the finished product either by odor or being splashed or leaked on during transport...like my post to Snookie, SQF auditor said to treat food contact material as an food ingredient..

 

Thanks,

 

The point of doing a risk assessment is to address any reasonable possibilities. One of the possibilities is that the finished product could be contaminated.  It is a hard look at risks so that decisions can be made accordingly. 


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fgjuadi

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Posted 14 January 2015 - 10:06 PM

I have this problem where purchasing does not want to receiving to reject, because time, money, blah blah blah.   They're scared of purchasing because purchasing will lash out at them for hurting our relationship with a vendor. 

 

They have the inspection, they know they're supposed to not receive, but when it's my wrath vs Purchasing's, purchasing's is way more threatening.  It's because our purchasing "department" is totally unprofessional and will start screaming and cursing at them

 

I ended up taking it to the company owner today because we received in some infested chocolate .  He agreed that he did not want to pay to have our building fumigated, and I suppose will handle the HR side of the corrective action.  Srsly, we're paying the vendor.  We pay the LTL trucks.  So if we're paying them to send us stuff on a load that isn't contaminated, we need to make sure they do it


Edited by magenta_majors, 14 January 2015 - 10:07 PM.

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noahchris97

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Posted 15 January 2015 - 07:01 PM

I have this problem where purchasing does not want to receiving to reject, because time, money, blah blah blah.   They're scared of purchasing because purchasing will lash out at them for hurting our relationship with a vendor. 

 

They have the inspection, they know they're supposed to not receive, but when it's my wrath vs Purchasing's, purchasing's is way more threatening.  It's because our purchasing "department" is totally unprofessional and will start screaming and cursing at them

 

I ended up taking it to the company owner today because we received in some infested chocolate .  He agreed that he did not want to pay to have our building fumigated, and I suppose will handle the HR side of the corrective action.  Srsly, we're paying the vendor.  We pay the LTL trucks.  So if we're paying them to send us stuff on a load that isn't contaminated, we need to make sure they do it

I 100% agree with you, Finally someone that feels my pain.... Its sad, that its going to take something big to make everyone wake up like a recall which in turn equals money loss, jobs lost and companies closed because they don't want to follow procedures.





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