In the wake of McDonald’s withdrawing salads in around 3000 US restaurants due to a parasitic bug making 400 customers quite ill, the potential contamination of foods is high on the agenda world wide.
A new metal detectable cable tie developed by HellermannTyton, in an easily identifiable yellow colour, gives food manufacturers improved visibility and traceability of contamination issues on a department by department basis.
Contamination of food or beverages with foreign objects is a concern on all food processing lines. If undetected, contaminants can threaten the lives of customers, damage brand reputation, or have cost implications in terms of legislative fines or product recalls.
Plastic is a significant cause of contamination; indeed, the Food Standards Agency has issued 10 alerts around plastic contamination since the beginning of 2017.
Standard plastic cable ties are an oft neglected issue in this regard. Hundreds or even thousands of ties will be used throughout food manufacturing facilities to keep cables secure, especially where machinery is installed above production lines. In environments where such machinery is regularly cleaned, there is the risk of ties breaking or becoming dislodged due to the effect of the chemicals and cleaning agents, where they might contaminate food on the line.
The HellermannTyton Metal Content Tie (MCT)-Series products contain a fine metal pigment, allowing them to be detected and rejected by food grade detection systems. The cable ties are manufactured in a food safe raw material, providing compliance to European food contact standards and Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requirements.
