Quick answer
Prevent foreign bodies through sound premises, equipment, packaging and handling, with risk-based brittle-material, blade, sieve and detection controls where relevant. If contamination is found, stop affected work, protect/hold potentially affected food, preserve evidence and investigate its source and extent. Do not assume removing one visible fragment makes the food safe or that a detector catches every material.
Physical contamination needs prevention and a response plan
Glass, metal, hard plastic and other objects can injure customers. Hazards can come from ingredients, packaging, equipment, building damage or handling.
SFBB physical-contamination guidance supports sound equipment and protected food. MyHACCP control guidance explains how prevention, detection, maintenance and training work together.
Choose controls for the actual source
| Source/control | Practical evidence |
|---|---|
| Glass/brittle materials | Identify relevant items, protect food and define breakage response. |
| Blades/tools | Suitable condition, controlled handling and investigation of missing/damaged parts. |
| Sieves/screens | Appropriate use, integrity checks and action if damaged. |
| Equipment/building work | Maintenance, loose-part control and release checks. |
| Incoming ingredients | Supplier specification and receiving checks. |
| Detection/rejection | Validated capability, suitable routine challenge checks and effective rejection. |
Understand detection-system limits
A detection system must suit the hazard, food, pack and process. Define what it can detect, the reject arrangement, checks and action when performance fails.
The MyHACCP detector example includes equipment maintenance and staff training as well as detection. Its illustrative sizes and intervals are not universal business limits. Retain evidence that the actual system works under relevant conditions.
Stop, segregate and preserve evidence
Stop the affected process and prevent potentially affected stock being used or dispatched. Identify the item, location, time, product/batch and equipment condition.
Keep fragments, packaging and relevant records safely without introducing a new injury or contaminating evidence. Assess the potentially affected period/lot from credible checks; do not assume the visible pack is the only one affected.
Worked example: a damaged sieve
Hypothetical example: a sieve is found damaged after a production run. The last satisfactory integrity check provides a starting point for investigating affected batches.
The manager holds potentially affected product, investigates missing material and checks the process. Passing the food through the damaged sieve again or finding one fragment would not establish that all affected food is safe.
Escalate and verify corrective action
If unsafe food may have been supplied, use the FSA incident route in EWNI or the Scottish incident arrangements and notify the competent authority as appropriate without waiting for every investigation detail.
Record the scope, decisions, repair/prevention and release evidence. Correct the underlying cause and verify the controls before restarting affected work.
Next steps
Choose a realistic breakage or missing-part scenario and check how food is held, traced and released. Link it with traceability and HACCP review.
Read official HACCP control guidance — Combine prevention, effective detection/rejection, monitoring and corrective action.