Summary
- Physical hazards in food refer to any material that is not intended to be found in food, and which is directly or indirectly introduced or transferred to food products through a certain medium, and may cause food safety incidents;
- Commonly found foreign bodies include glass shards, small pieces of metal or plastic, carcasses of insects, personal accessories, nails and hair, among others. Contamination of food products by foreign bodies is often associated with equipment and facilities, packaging materials, environmental contamination and human causes;
- Consumption of food contaminated by foreign bodies may result in cuts, bleeding or broken teeth, or even suffocation in severe cases, which can be life-threatening;
- The food sector has to prevent contamination of food products by foreign bodies through staff training, management of environmental hygiene, improvement in food production and preparation processes and maintenance of equipment and facilities, among other measures;
- The public should avoid wearing accessories while handling food, and always use clean and intact utensils in food handling.
Introduction
In recent years, there have been food safety incidents in Macao in which foreign bodies were found in commercially available food products. Moreover, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) has issued food alerts for multiple times for pre-packaged food products imported into Macao that were suspected to have been contaminated by foreign bodies, such as glass, metal, and plastics. As such, this article introduces readers to the physical hazards in food products caused by foreign bodies, the regulatory aspects of food safety in Macao, and offering the food sector and consumers with advice to minimise the associated health risks.
Physical hazards caused by foreign bodies
Food contamination by foreign bodies is a form of physical contamination. It refers to any material (e.g. glass shards, small pieces of metal or plastic, stone and wood splinters) that is not intended to be found in food, and which is directly or indirectly introduced or transferred to food products through a certain medium (including food products and its raw materials, food utensils, equipment and facilities, as well as food handlers), and may cause food safety incidents.
The primary cause of food contamination by foreign bodies is poor hygiene in food production facilities and food commercialisation establishments or insufficient awareness of hygiene among food handlers. The latter includes improper handling of food and raw materials, improper use of utensils and equipment, wearing accessories and artificial nails, and not putting on a hairnet. These malpractices can introduce or transfer foreign bodies, such as glass, metal, and plastic, to food products.
Potential food safety risks posed by foreign bodies in food
When foreign bodies are present in food, consumers could be injured during food consumption, ranging from cuts, bleeding or broken teeth in minor cases, to suffocation in severe cases, which can be life-threatening. The main food safety risks posed by foreign bodies in food are as follows:
- Physical injury: the foreign bodies can cause cuts in the mouth, teeth, oesophagus, or digestive tract. For instance, metal or glass shards may cut the mouth and oesophagus, while fragments of stone may cause teeth to crack or break. Some foreign bodies of a bigger size may block the respiratory tract and cause suffocation, which is life-threatening.
- Health risks: certain foreign bodies may contain harmful substances or microorganisms, which may indirectly contaminate the food and ultimately lead to food-poisoning or other health issues. For instance, metallic foreign bodies may contain heavy metals, which can adversely affect health when ingested over prolonged periods of time.
- Consumer trust: contamination of food by foreign bodies can damage a company's reputation, causing consumers to harbour doubts over the quality of its products.
Origins and types of foreign bodies
The commonly found foreign bodies in food include glass shards, small pieces of metal or plastic, nails, hair and personal accessories, among others. Based on the origin and nature of the foreign bodies, they can be categorised as follows:
- Endogenous foreign bodies
- Those originating from the raw materials of food products, such as bones, nutshells and stems of plants.
- Exogenous foreign bodies
- Metal: such as screw, metal wire and blade;
- Glass: such as shards of cups, bowls and other glassware;
- Plastic: such as plastic packaging, and fragments of plastic parts;
- Tissues and hair of organisms: such as hair and nails of humans or animals;
- Insects and rodents: such as insects and eggs of insects;
- Others: such as small pieces of paper and stone fragments.
Factors causing contamination by foreign bodies
- Machinery and equipment used in food production: metal or plastic fragments from food cutting equipment and food processing machinery, owing to their breakage or wear and tear over time;
- Packaging materials: glass and plastic materials used for food packaging may break into shards upon impact or during collisions;
- Environmental contamination: if a food product is directly exposed to air during its transportation or display, dust, sand and other particles in the air may fall onto the food and result in food contamination;
- Human causes: improper food-handling practice of food handlers during food production and commercialisation, or insufficient awareness of hygiene among food handlers, may inadvertently introduce their personal accessories or other foreign bodies to food, resulting in food contamination.
Regulatory aspects of food safety in Macao SAR
According to the Law No. 5/2013 “Food Safety Law" of Macao, the food sector has the responsibility to ensure the food products supplied or served are in good hygienic condition and are safe and fit for human consumption. Moreover, IAM ensures food safety in Macao through a monitoring system of information on food safety, enabling it to collect and analyse food safety information from around the world and from Macao on a consistent basis. When IAM identified a certain food product may pose risk to food safety, it will adopt necessary preventive and control measures at once, and issue a food alert to the food sector. In addition, IAM sends personnel to conduct regular hygiene inspection of food processing facilities across Macao to oversee their hygiene condition, so as to ensure food safety in Macao.
IAM has compiled a series of guidelines, including “Hygiene Guidelines on Prevention of Cross-Contamination", “Guidelines on Personal Hygiene of Food Handlers" and “Guidelines on Food Safety and Hygiene during Repairs and Maintenance Works", to remind the food sector of Macao of the essential practices and precautions in regard to personal and environmental hygiene, and cleanliness of equipment and facilities in food production and preparation, which are meant to ensure food safety in Macao. The aforementioned guidelines can be found in the dedicated Trade Guidelines page of the Food Safety Information website.
Advice to the food sector
- Strengthen staff management and training:
- Pay special attention to personal hygiene of food handlers. For instance, remind them to wear neat and clean work clothes, and a hairnet or cap to completely cover their hair;
- Make sure there are no loose buttons on the work clothes to prevent them from falling into the food;
- Avoid wearing personal accessories, such as rings, bracelets and watch;
- Do not wear nail polish, false nails or false eyelashes;
- Properly cover any cut or wound with a brightly coloured, waterproof dressing or plaster;
- Make arrangements for food handlers to attend training course on food safety at regular intervals to ensure they have sufficient knowledge of food safety to engage in food production, preparation and serving.
- Improve management and regular cleaning of production and commercialisation establishments:
- Do not use accessory parts made of glass (e.g. lamp shades and protective cover for refrigerator thermometers) for equipment and devices in food-handling areas;
- Adopt effective measures to keep away mosquitoes, flies and other insects from food handling areas, such as installing insect-proof mesh screens;
- Develop a pest control and management plan, carry out pest control procedures on a regular basis, and regular inspection and maintenance of pest control equipment and devices to prevent pest infestation;
- Clean and disinfect food production facilities and food commercialisation establishments on a regular basis, and do not keep pets in these premises.
- Optimise management of food production process:
- Do not use containers or scoops made of glass to pick up food or ice cubes;
- If a container breaks or any foreign body accidentally gets into food during food handling, discard all the potentially contaminated food, and clean up the area where the incident happened, as well as the items lying in the area;
- Adopt appropriate measures to prevent food contamination by foreign bodies during the course of food transportation and display. For instance, cover the food products or wrap them with plastic wrap;
- Members of the food sector can install or use equipment with metal detection or X-ray function in food inspection at major control points (e.g. receipt of food ingredients and food packaging, among others) according to their production and operation needs.
- Inspect utensils, equipment and facilities regularly:
- Perform regular inspection of equipment used in food processing, such as cutting tools, to check for wear and tear. Replace damaged parts promptly to prevent them from falling off, resulting in contamination of food by foreign bodies;
- If any utensil or equipment that comes into contact with food is damaged or has cracks, repair or replace it immediately;
- Effective protective measures must be adopted in times of replacement or repair of equipment or facilities, to ensure that accessory parts of equipment or foreign bodies will not get into food during the course of replacement or repair.
Advice to the general public
- Use intact food utensils: do not use chipped or broken glass and ceramic food containers for holding or in handling food;
- Pay attention to personal accessories: avoid wearing rings, bracelets and other accessory items while handling food;
- Check food packaging: upon shopping for food, pay special attention to the packaging of food products to see whether the packaging is intact and if it is tightly sealed. If the packaging of the food product is damaged, do not buy or consume it;
- Keep evidence: if any foreign body is found in a food product, notify IAM about the case and provide the purchase receipt of the product or other supporting evidence (e.g. photos or the packaging of the product).
References
1. “Hygiene Guidelines on Prevention of Cross-Contamination" (Chinese version) (Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macao), March 2024
https://www.foodsafety.gov.mo/file?p=foodsafetyinfo/List22/74_cfeb3bea7ac510fea63374c3cec9b776.pdf
2. “Guidelines on Food Safety and Hygiene during Repairs and Maintenance Works" (Chinese version) (Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macao), December 2020
https://www.foodsafety.gov.mo/file?p=foodsafetyinfo/List22/74_cfeb3bea7ac510fea63374c3cec9b776.pdf
3. “Guidelines on Personal Hygiene of Food Handlers" (Chinese version) (Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macao), December 2019
https://www.foodsafety.gov.mo/file?p=foodsafetyinfo/List22/74_cfeb3bea7ac510fea63374c3cec9b776.pdf
4. “Supplementary Teaching Materials for Food Safety Management" (Chinese version) (Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macao), November 2019
https://www.foodsafety.gov.mo/file?p=foodsafetyinfo/docleaflet/637599517884442.pdf
5. Food hazards and food contamination (Centre for Food Safety of Hong Kong) November 2020
https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/trade_zone/safe_kitchen/Food_hazards_and_food_contamination.html
6. Cross contamination may also occur in the kitchen (Chinese version) (Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Fuzhou), September 2024
https://cdc.fuzhou.gov.cn/zz/jkjy/spaqfxjc/202409/t20240930_4902564.htm
7. “Food Safety Plan Workbook" (Ministry of Health of British Columbia), August 2021
BRR 003 DAR 2025
