Foreign Material SS Metal

We are a juice manufacturer and had a product transfer pump that was leaking. The seal was changed and seemed to be ok. The pump was taken a part a few weeks later and was noticed the impeller to be worn down about an inch. Now we are concerned of metal contamination and have about a weeks worth of product on hold. We have a screen in place for choking hazard <7mm >30mm along with a metal detector to detect 2.5 mm SS. The concern is infants and elderly, but I see no further sizes related to choking hazards for these. The main question I have is, if SS <2.5 mm enters into a finished product without our metal detector detecting it and are still within FDA guidelines for choking hazards, should this product be considered tainted and disposed of? We could put it through the metal detector again, but the chances of detection are slim I would think. 

I greatly appreciate any and all advice!

Depending on product consistency and make up you may be able to:

1. Sock filter the juice to a desired mesh size?
2. Place an Inline magnet to trap metal shavings, the material may be magnetic?
3. Rack clean onto another thank from a low level valve?
4. Run through a metal detector with higher detection sensitivity?
5. combination of options

There may be other choices.

 

Juan

The product is now knowingly adulterated

 

Sec. 110.5 Current good manufacturing practice.

(a) The criteria and definitions in this part shall apply in determining whether a food is adulterated (1) within the meaning of section 402(a)(3) of the act in that the food has been manufactured under such conditions that it is unfit for food; or (2) within the meaning of section 402(a)(4) of the act in that the food has been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health. The criteria and definitions in this part also apply in determining whether a food is in violation of section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264).

(b) Food covered by specific current good manufacturing practice regulations also is subject to the requirements of those regulations.

Is the impeller known to wear in your operation?  I can imagine just like a mill blade will wear down during a grinding operation (yay added iron), an impeller pushing a juice will create friction and slowly wear down.  If the wear is even, and it's not apparent that a piece has broken off in a large chunk, I might be of the mind that there isn't a contamination hazard present and it wore down evenly over time (like microns of metal over time).

 

But if you've never had an impeller wear down, then totally disregard my line of thought and investigate as much as possible.

I agree with Scampi in that the juice is adulterated in its currents state and I would chuck it down the drain.

 

Thanks!

 

Juan

Hi klawrence326,

 

:welcome:

 

Welcome to the IFSQN forums.

 

As per previous posts, you can’t release the product unless you know what has happened and where that missing impeller metal has gone. It may have come off as minute particles as jfrey123 has indicated.

 

I have had a previous incident where a pump ball seal disappeared/disintegrated. As part of of investigation we opened 10% of the product and passed it through a fine filter to find and assess the level of contamination. We found a significant amount in that 10% so the product was all rejected.  

 

I wouldn’t bother with using the metal detector to investigate this, you will need to run the product through a fine filter (1mm or less if possible). In your case I’m wondering why your process has a screen/filter is as large as 7mm for juice?

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony