Historically, foreign material control within many food production facilities has operated by “looking back” or “getting lucky.” Looking back involves placing a foreign material detection device at the end of a production line. A rejection serves to prohibit a potentially adulterated product from entering commerce and signals the foreign material control process is not working. An absence of rejection validates that the product was produced free of foreign materials detectable by the device but not those not detectable by the device. Sometimes, if you are lucky, the foreign material is visible in the product flow; for example, by observing visible foreign materials while product travels past on a conveyor.
The goal of any foreign material control program must be prevention. There has yet to be a device invented that can detect all possible foreign materials. Dr. W. Edward Deming once said, “Inspection is too late. The quality, good or bad, is already in the product.” This suggests that foreign materials may have already adulterated the product by the time inspection occurs. Prevention is not just a goal; it is also a fundamental requirement for business continuity. For years, it has been recognized that control of Listeria is mandatory for food safety. To control this organism, the North American Meat Institute has hosted a Listeria control workshop for over 20 years that preaches its Listeria control equation (Figure 1).