The detection of foreign material is always a priority in the meat and poultry processing industry. The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has strict guidelines on the presence of foreign material on broiler meat, with any product contaminated with foreign material to be segregated and decontaminated or discarded accordingly.

“Detection of foreign material is important in processing poultry to guarantee the safety of the product, meet the legal requirement and to consumer health,” said Dongyi Wang, assistant professor of food science at the University of Arkansas. “Presumably, undiscovered foreign bodies like plastic, metal, or other organic material may injure the consumers and lead to product recalls; erode the company’s reputation; and entail heavy costs.”

That’s why effective detection systems are needed to ensure quality control and maintain consumer trust in the brand. Each processing plant will have its own procedures in place for monitoring foreign contamination and removing the contaminant from production.

Jason Morroni, associate director of quality assurance and corporate auditing for Rastelli Foods Group, Swedesboro, NJ, noted implementing effective detection systems, such as metal detectors and X-ray machines, helps streamline the production process by quickly identifying and removing contaminated products. This reduces waste and ensures that only safe products reach the market.

“Testing for foreign materials with X-rays is standard procedure,” said Hudson Thames, PhD, assistant professor of poultry processing at Mississippi State University. “The detectors utilized now have an impressive sensitivity to the point that materials around 1 mm to 2 mm in size can be detected. It does depend on what material it is though. Calcified bone and metal are much easier to detect at smaller sizes.”

Juan DeVillena, senior vice president of quality assurance and food safety for Wayne-Sanderson Farms, Oakwood, Ga., said the evolution of foreign material detection has grown rapidly over the last five years.

“While X-ray could detect glass, metal and some pieces of wood depending on the density, hyperspectral imaging is the best technology being used and tested today,” he said, explaining it detects a lot more thanks to its ability to capture and analyze a wide range of wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum.

“Each substance has a unique spectral fingerprint, which can be used to identify foreign materials like plastics, metals, or other contaminants that may be present in the poultry products,” DeVillena said.

At the most recent industry conference Thames attended, he saw several presentations showcasing advances in hyperspectral imaging and near infrared imaging (NIR), and he believes this technology is going to be a game changer.

“These types of systems have the potential to detect foreign materials not easily detected by X-ray or the naked eye, such as clear plastics, glass, etc.,” he said. “The problem is that these materials are not found throughout the processing chain. You really only see plastics like this during packaging. However, there may be additional advancements in the technology that will help it serve as an additional monitoring tool for HACCP plants.”

It is possible for small pieces of bone to find their way into packaged product no matter the processing method, according to industry experts. (Source: ©ZBLASTER - STOCK.ADOBE.COM)

Root of the Problem

Regardless of differences between processing plants, one of the most detected materials in poultry products is bone fragments.

“Whether birds are cut-up and deboned manually, or through automated systems, it is possible small pieces of bone could find their way into packaged product,” Thames said. “Across the industry, there’s been a shift toward integrating more automated cut-up and debone systems. This could present an additional challenge for mitigating bone fragmentation and metal shavings in ready-to-cook products.”

From a research perspective, foreign bone material in mechanical deboning systems could result from inadequate bird uniformity.

“These systems are calibrated for a specific bird size,” Thames said. “However, there are limits in how they can be adjusted bird-to-bird so that uniformity is crucial to having the systems function properly and efficiently.”

Dawn Lynch, corporate quality assurance manager for the House of Raeford Farms, Rose Hill, NC, noted foreign material detection is one of the most important issues facing poultry processing operations today.

“The most common foreign material we see is plastic from either employee personal protective equipment or packaging materials,” she said. “All findings are investigated, with corrective actions and preventative measures implemented to eliminate future findings.”

In addition to plastic and bone, metal fragments from broken tools, containers or processing equipment are foreign materials often seen, as are things like feathers and insects.

“Metal and plastic harm the consumers through physical injuries while the organic contaminants’ impact on the quality of the products are potential carriers of pernicious microorganisms,” U of A’s Wang said. “The significance of these findings is grave because by including foreign materials into their meals, consumers increase the probability of product recalls, fines from regulatory authorities, and legal proceedings.”

Morroni noted that ensuring poultry products are free from foreign materials like bone, metal, plastic, rubber and glass is essential to prevent consumer injuries and health hazards as contaminated products can lead to serious health issues, including choking, cuts and infections.

“Maintaining high standards of food safety helps build and retain consumer trust,” he said. “Any incident involving foreign material contamination can severely damage a brand’s reputation and lead to costly recalls.”

Learning from Experience

One of the best ways for processors to conduct effective root cause analysis when foreign materials are detected is to gather as much relevant information as possible.

“Recovering the actual foreign material so that the material can be matched to materials in the facility, looking at color and texture, can help stop future issues,” Lynch said. “Having production dates and times with supporting labels so that camera footage can be reviewed to determine potential sources is also important.”

Additionally, interviewing all departments such as QA, production, and maintenance, to compile any other relevant information can help determine the best course of action for the implementation of preventative measures going forward.

“Employees should be trained to recognize potential sources of foreign material and how to report those situations to ensure product is not contaminated,” Lynch said. “Employees throughout the industry, including maintenance workers, should be trained on their role in reducing this contamination.”

The employees’ role in reducing foreign material contamination is of utmost importance.

“Employees require information on how to use the right equipment for handling, how to wash hands and use gloves, and how to avoid polluting the food through improper handling of items,” Wang said. “Managers can improve training by adding real-time monitoring systems, carrying out practical exercises, and repeating guidelines with support from posters and recurring training. Also, seminars can be held on a recurrent basis and can involve problems associated with contamination sources, protocols implementation and technologies application.”

Future of Detection

Looking ahead, many in the industry believe an increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will add to the different ways that processors can improve AI detection methods.

“To detect all types of foreign material, an AI-enabled photo eye can be introduced to the process,” Morroni said. “After training the photo eye to detect the common types of material found in a plant, while passing through your process, the photo eye will be able to alert you when something seems irregular.”

By taking advantage of the latest technology for detection, processors can significantly reduce the risk of foreign material contamination, improving food safety, enhancing product quality and maintaining consumer confidence.