BRC Food Safety Issue 9: What It Means for Metal Detection and Foreign Body Control

Foreign-body contamination is one of the key physical hazards that food manufacturers need to control through a documented, risk-based food safety system. Metal fragments can enter food products through raw materials, processing equipment, maintenance activities, packaging operations, or equipment wear.

For manufacturers working toward or maintaining certification against the BRCGS Global Standard Food Safety Issue 9, effective foreign-body control involves more than simply installing a metal detector. The detection method, equipment location, sensitivity, test procedures, product disposition, corrective actions, verification activities and records all need to form part of a controlled food safety system.

BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 provides a framework for managing product safety, integrity, legality and quality in food and food-ingredient manufacturing, processing and packing operations.

Physical contamination can occur at several stages of a food production process.

Potential sources include:

A robust foreign-body control programme therefore needs to consider both prevention and detection.

Detection equipment provides an additional control step, but it should not be considered a substitute for good manufacturing practices, preventive maintenance, supplier controls, sanitation, HACCP-based risk assessment or other physical-contamination controls.

BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 is designed to help food manufacturers produce safe, authentic and legal food while managing quality and meeting customer requirements. The standard is used internationally and is GFSI-recognised.

For foreign-body management, manufacturers should establish controls based on the hazards associated with their particular products and processes.

This means the appropriate detection technology cannot be selected independently of the production process.

Factors such as the following should be considered:

The BRCGS interpretation guidance also stresses that methods of compliance need to be considered in the context of the individual business, product and process rather than applied as a universal formula.

Metal detection is commonly used on food production lines to identify metallic contamination before finished products reach consumers.

Depending on the application and equipment configuration, a metal detector may be designed to identify different types of metallic contaminants, including:

A typical inspection process works by passing the product through a detection aperture. If a metallic contaminant produces a signal exceeding the configured detection threshold, the system can trigger an automatic rejection mechanism.

The rejected product can then be isolated for investigation according to the site's food-safety procedures.

Metal detector performance is influenced by the characteristics of the product being inspected.

Products containing significant moisture, salt or other conductive characteristics can produce a stronger product signal. This is commonly referred to as the product effect.

Consequently, detection performance should be established for the actual product, packaging and production conditions rather than relying only on a nominal detector specification.

The inspection point should be selected through the site's documented hazard analysis and food-safety controls.

Depending on the production process, a detector may be installed:

The objective is not simply to place a detector at the end of the line. The inspection point should provide meaningful control over the identified physical hazard.

How True Care Technology Can Support Foreign-Body Inspection

True Care Technology provides inspection and detection systems for food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, FMCG and other manufacturing applications.

Its inspection portfolio includes:

The appropriate solution should be selected based on the product, line configuration, inspection objective and applicable quality and food-safety requirements.