Case Study: Glass in Chocolate Bar

Foreign material in foods, such as glass, plastic, rubber and metal can result in customer complaints and damage to a company’s reputation. Foreign material in foods can have many possible sources, such as contaminated raw material, aging and wear of machines and equipment, poor personnel practice and improper processing procedures and negligence that allow foreign material to get into the manufactured food or packaging.

To prevent injury to customers and maintain a high level of quality, it is necessary to understand what types of foreign material have contaminated the food and what is the possible source of contamination.

THE PROBLEM:

We were contacted by a law firm representing a world-renowned candy maker. The company faced litigation involving a consumer complaint. The complaint was that there were glass fragments allegedly found in the company’s top-selling candy bar. The company was concerned about the possibility of contamination in their product and we were contacted to investigate the matter.

THE ANALYSES:

An examination of all the submitted items, including opened and unopened candy bar samples, was performed utilizing a Zeiss Stemi 200-C stereomicroscope.

In order to look for glass on the interior of the candy bar, portions were excised from the bar and each portion was thinly sliced into a series of sections and examined by stereomicroscope. Sections were then dissolved and decanted through a sieve. The insoluble particles collected on the sieve were examined by stereomicroscope and polarized light microscopy (PLM) utilizing an Olympus BHSP microscope.

THE OUTCOME:

No glass was detected in any of the analyzed items. The candy manufacturer was reassured that there was no glass contamination in their manufacturing process.

For more information please contact us at info@mvainc.com or 770-662-8509.