Hello,
We receive in totes of honey that have tamper evident tape across the large screw top on the top of the tote, a foil seal over the spout, and a tamper tab by the valve. In the "usual" photos attached, we can cleanly remove the seal, find no honey in the spout, and the tab is properly seated, indicating that the valve has not been opened. We received in one tote, however, that is missing the seal, has residual honey in the spout, and the tamper tab is not seated (see "issue" photos), which suggests that the valve was potentially opened to some degree at some point.
This honey comes from Mexico and is stored at a warehouse in Texas before it's shipped directly to us. We were told they verify the seals are in place as the totes are loaded onto the truck (I'm still waiting on documentation) and this is sent to us as a full truckload. Shame on us, we did not inspect the totes at time of receipt and only when we went to use this tote of honey in production.
I interviewed the (very limited) employees who have access to the honey and it doesn't appear to have happened on the premises.
Short story: we received a tote of honey with broken tamper evident seals and do not know when, why, or how it occurred.
Question: is there any way we can still use this honey? Is there any kind of testing that can be performed to provide peace of mind? Money is obviously not worth the risk to human health and our company's reputation, but we are a small business and this is a $$$ material. I just wanted to make sure I've exhausted all possible options before dispositioning as destruction.
Thank you!
Steph
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