Recent food recalls due to plastic contamination prompt need for additional food processing safeguards
By Canadian Packaging staff
Food Safety X-Ray Eriez PolyMag AdditivesHeeding calls from major restaurant chains and retailers, Eriez PolyMag Additives provide a solution.
ERIE, PA—Recalls resulting from plastic contamination in food products are on the upswing in the U.S., prompting major restaurant chains and retailers to demand their food processing suppliers utilize plastic and rubber items that are metal detectable.
Eriez provides a solution with its FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration)-compliant PolyMag Additives which impart metal detectability, X-Ray contrast and magnetic susceptibility into a wide range of polymers.
Over the past several years, major recalls due to plastic contamination include well-know brands of potato chips, cookies, cereal, pizza, pasta, ice cream, meat products, beverages and more. In addition to costing companies millions of dollars from lost retail sales and litigation, these incidents often cause immeasurable damage to brand reputation.
The required use of metal detectable plastic and rubber articles is now a part of many companies’ HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) programs.
Eriez supplies PolyMag Additives to molders of ear plugs, pens, markers, returnable plastic containers, pallets, scoops, scrapers, tags, gaskets, o-rings, conveyor belting, buckets for bucket elevators and sifting balls/sliders for screeners.
PolyMag Additives are produced using GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) with full raw material and lot traceability. Additives are available in free flowing, non-dusting pellets using a variety of resin carriers, including broad compatibility co-polymers, polycarbonate, polypropylene, nylon 6 and low flex modulus TPE (Thermoplastic elastomer).
“In certain situations, we can provide just the proprietary active ingredient in our PolyMag pellets,” says Eriez market manager for the sanitary industry John Klinge. “This is a fine metal powder with tight particle size distribution for compounding in UHMW, acetal, thermoset rubber, silicone, polyurethane foam and rotomolding.”
PolyMag Additives are typically included at 10 to 20 percent loadings in moldings and extrusions. The molder or extruder can vary the PolyMag loading to suit their customers’ detection needs.
“Some applications may only need a five percent loading while other application may call for 20 percent or more,” Klinge notes.
PolyMag Additives are gray and can be easily pigmented to popular colors such as blue, red, orange, green, purple and other darker colors.
To keep costs down for molders producing smaller volumes, Eriez offers PolyMag Additives in quantities as low as 20 lbs. Compounders and molders can use their standard high volume resins and add PolyMag, as required, to reduce inventory SKUs (stockkeeping units) and material loss.
“It is typically less expensive to add PolyMag to standard resin versus buying a custom compound with minimum order quantities,” explains Klinge.
With most PolyMag Additives in stock and available for immediate shipment, molders can quickly fulfill customers’ orders while minimizing inventory costs.
To learn more, call Eriez and ask to speak with a PolyMag specialist or click HERE.
Eriez is recognized as world authority in separation technologies. The company’s magnetic lift and separation, metal detection, fluid filtration, flotation, materials feeding, screening, conveying and controlling equipment have application in the process, metalworking, packaging, plastics, rubber, recycling, food, mining, aggregate and textile industries. Eriez manufactures and markets these products through 12 international facilities located on six continents. For more information, call toll-free (888) 300-ERIEZ (3743) within the U.S. and Canada. For online users, visit www.eriez.com or send e-mail to eriez@eriez.com. Eriez World Headquarters is located at 2200 Asbury Road, Erie, PA 16506.
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