Identification of foreign matter in foods.

It is the purpose of this paper to review and illustrate recent, pertinent, advances in detection methods for those food particle contaminants that have potential as hazards to human health or that elevate the risk for product liability disputes. Sources for the contamination of the human food supply include extraneous particulates associated with raw materials, food handling and packaging processes, as well as extraneous filth from insects and rodents. Likewise, environmental particulates, either airborne or in liquid suspension, can be considered as potential food contaminants. Concern for the quality of human foods relates to the type and quantity of suspected contaminants. To reduce the risk of particle contaminations of all types in human food supplies and to insure high yields of safe, high quality products, industry safeguards include monitoring and identification of foreign matter. Supportive methodology has been developed to detect, separate and identify particle contaminants of many types. Microscopic contaminants are characterized using light microscopy, electron microscopy and allied techniques. Specific applications of these techniques are described in brief detail.