Science. Service. Solutions.
Foreign Material Identification
Foreign Material Identification / Foreign Object Identification refers to the chemical/microscopic analysis and classification of physical contamination and unknown particulate matter found in foods.
It is essentially impossible to list all of the different types of foreign objects that we can examine and identify. A partial list includes:
- glass
- plastic
- hair
- bone fragments
- tooth fragments
- wear metals and other metal objects
- mold
- insects or insect fragments
- rodents or rodent fragments
- carmelized or burnt material
- plant material (leaves, stems, wood, etc.)
- pills
- and virtually any foreign object or material that is found in food!
We have micro-chemical spot tests for the following substances:
- blood (presence/absence and human vs. non-human)
- saliva and nasal discharge
- urine
- fecal material
- sperm
Food Forensics: A forensic examination will determine if the foreign material was baked-in or processed in finished products such as:
- breads, cakes, muffins, and other bakery products
- ground meat products
- canned fruit and vegetable products
- and many other food products!
We can also determine if meat and vegetable products have reached the Pasteurization temperature.
We can do comparitive analyses of:
- plastics
- metals
- fibers/bristles
- and many more substances!
This type of analysis is useful to match a foreign object to it’s source. For instance, does the plastic piece returned by a customer match the gloves used in your restaurant?
Click here for information regarding Non-Destructive Testing.
Contact us to disucss other analyses not listed here or to see what our Food Forensics services can do for you.