Non-Food Uses for Honey Contaminated with Hydraulic Oil

So, I have approx 20,000#'s of honey that I took a hard 'I'm not clearing that' stance. The owner's were understanding, but I'd like to find possible alternative uses for him if possible. My SQF auditor (who visits hundreds of honey places a year) suggested soap makers, so I will be reaching out to some independent soap makers. That might put a very small dent in it..

Any ides would be much appreciated. I won't clear it for food, it has 40mg/kg of hydraulic oil in it.

Cosmetics is the only industry I can think of, besides F&B. I don't think it's suitable for pet food either.

20,000lb is a lot of honey. I hope you make the best out of it! 

I doubt that soap makers would accept it knowing there is hydraulic oil contamination.

But, pharma companies may be a path for fungal treatment product as well as finding a sugar processor that can spin (vortex) the oil out and then process it as regular waste honey.

Also waste honey is sometimes used to coat fly and ant trap inserts.

It's a reach thats for sure - but i think the pharma route might be a good one.

If Pharma can use it for fungal, which I assume, is a topical treatment, why would soap makers not?

Anaerobic digestion would be the only option who would take it over here I would suggest. Not sure if you have many of them?

Anaerobic digestion would be the only option who would take it over here I would suggest. Not sure if you have many of them?

We do actually. We had a local Uni do testing on our DE waste stream in the past and it didn't meet their k/cal requirement. We have some floor honey that I'm going to look to get to them, because that has 0$ tied up in inventory. They take it as waste but basically haul it off for free.

The hydro oil honey I'm hoping to get someone that can use so I can recoup a tiny bit of the cost. 40 parts per million might be under their threshold for soap I'm hoping...

On a side note, thanks for staying firm, Tim! We need more heroes like you. 

On a side note, thanks for staying firm, Tim! We need more heroes like you. 

Eh, I'll say it's the owners who get the hero tag on this one. It's their $$ tied up in it and they didn't argue a smidge when I said no. Or even more realistically the loader when he noticed something dripping off his forks, who told his supervisor, who then told his manager, who then told the production director, who then said, 'I'm not making that call" and paged me down. I should buy the loader lunch..

Yea man, you work for a good organization! 

We do actually. We had a local Uni do testing on our DE waste stream in the past and it didn't meet their k/cal requirement. We have some floor honey that I'm going to look to get to them, because that has 0$ tied up in inventory. They take it as waste but basically haul it off for free.

The hydro oil honey I'm hoping to get someone that can use so I can recoup a tiny bit of the cost. 40 parts per million might be under their threshold for soap I'm hoping...

It's worth checking if they'll actually pay for it if it has a high calorific value as this will.  Personally I'd not want soap made with this.

Eh, I'll say it's the owners who get the hero tag on this one. It's their $$ tied up in it and they didn't argue a smidge when I said no. Or even more realistically the loader when he noticed something dripping off his forks, who told his supervisor, who then told his manager, who then told the production director, who then said, 'I'm not making that call" and paged me down. I should buy the loader lunch..

You absolutely should.  It's so easy in a crisis to focus on the crisis not on the people who did the right things to bring the crisis to light.  At least a personal thank you and hand shake of the loader, supervisor, manager, production director and owners who have all done 100% the right thing.  Kudos!

Eh, I'll say it's the owners who get the hero tag on this one. It's their $$ tied up in it and they didn't argue a smidge when I said no. Or even more realistically the loader when he noticed something dripping off his forks, who told his supervisor, who then told his manager, who then told the production director, who then said, 'I'm not making that call" and paged me down. I should buy the loader lunch..

THAT'S a good Food Safety Culture!  :thumbup:

Eh, I'll say it's the owners who get the hero tag on this one. It's their $$ tied up in it and they didn't argue a smidge when I said no. Or even more realistically the loader when he noticed something dripping off his forks, who told his supervisor, who then told his manager, who then told the production director, who then said, 'I'm not making that call" and paged me down. I should buy the loader lunch..

Late to the party, but I'd absolutely buy this loader lunch, and they automatically get employee of the month.  Great food safety culture at work.

If you can share, I'm also curious how hydro oil from the forklift contaminated 20k lbs worth of product?  Is this a sprayed/dripped onto sealed packaging issue or a issue where filling equipment spilled onto the filled containers and the forklift operator just noticed it during loading?  If that latter, damn, I might buy the forklift guy lunch for a month for missing what should've been caught at the fill stations...

And as others said, kudos for holding the line!  To you and your management for not overriding the issue in a "business decision" manner.

Late to the party, but I'd absolutely buy this loader lunch, and they automatically get employee of the month.  Great food safety culture at work.

 

If you can share, I'm also curious how hydro oil from the forklift contaminated 20k lbs worth of product?  Is this a sprayed/dripped onto sealed packaging issue or a issue where filling equipment spilled onto the filled containers and the forklift operator just noticed it during loading?  If that latter, damn, I might buy the forklift guy lunch for a month for missing what should've been caught at the fill stations...

 

And as others said, kudos for holding the line!  To you and your management for not overriding the issue in a "business decision" manner.

Raw honey is loaded into hotboxes to melt the crystal. Most of it comes from the apiaries completely crystallized in drums. The hydro line cracked and was leaking down the fork, right off the tip. Loader noticed a trail of something but had no clue if it leaked in, or how much, etc. I put the whole blend (that's what the lot in the hotbox is called from that point forward) in NCP and got samples pulled for testing.

Good work there!

Just curious - Did you specifically test for hydraulic oil? Do you guys routinely test for this substance in honey? 

Good work there!

 

Just curious - Did you specifically test for hydraulic oil? Do you guys routinely test for this substance in honey? 

I specifically tested this blend for hydraulic oil. No, it's not a routine test. It took the lab manager at the lab I use a bit of time and research of the SDS to determine which test would work. They're German though, they like hard work  :roflmao:

How did hydraulic oil end up in honey or how did you know to look for it in honey is my question. 

That's where the loader noticed he was trailing a leak and they found the hydro line leaking down the tip of the fork into the hotbox..

As a person who loves honey in his earl gray, as well as on his granola, this is sad.....

It is sad. Would it have been avoidable? Are you doing a CAPA or anything?

It is sad. Would it have been avoidable? Are you doing a CAPA or anything?

I'd like to say it was unavoidable; I did the investigation over a year ago when this happened. I questioned the efficacy of the morning forklift inspection, but realistically it's a freak accident. It's been sitting in totes to see if the oil would separate out. It isn't separating out.

We filter several hundred thousand #'s of honey weekly. And bottle some maple, and molasses, and agave nectar. And imitation honey which is getting more and more popular among diabetics.

25,636 k #'s sucks but it's not the biggest oopsie since I've been here.