Carryover Non Allergen

Hi Everyone,

One of my approved suppliers sent an ingredient that contained traces of corn meal which is not an ingredient in my product, this lot of material was used until it was noticed in product on the line.  After contacting the supplier, the corn was found to be carry over from their  changeover process.  I am not quite sure if this would count as an incidental additive or if this puts me at risk for mislabeling in the batches that used this ingredient since they do not contain corn meal.  The carry over is not an allergen, but I am not sure what level qualifies as insignificant.  Can anyone provide some feedback on whether this qualifies as an incidental additive or is there a greater risk?  Thanks in advance!

Hi latergator,

one would need a deep dive to know more about. Try to answer the following questions,

(Without knowing the nature of your product, it would be difficult to engage more)

  1. Is these traces affect the intended use of the product in anyway? Does your product need a further processing step(s) before consuming it?

  2. How much extend these traces visible in the product? Is it as uniform manner or being patches at different places?

  3. How much sensitive is the target customer base about your product?

  4. Is the quantity disposable without hurting much?

  5. Is there any way to reach a consensus with your customer(s) if this have little change in any of their desired product specifications?

Weigh different outcomes of what you choose to and decide in a way with minimum impact!!

Is the ingredient USDA or FDA. 

I would ask if they use cornmeal as a processing aid. Which would explain why you saw it. 

Miss-labeling incident.

Then there is the potential issue that no other components in the finished product are GE'd/GMO etc., but the corn may be.