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Episode Transcription
Welcome to Food Safety in a Minute.
When we think about foodborne illness, disease-causing bacteria and viruses come to mind. However, physical hazards in food also pose risks to your health, sometimes serious ones. As defined by the Food and Drug Administration: A physical hazard in food is “any physical object, substance, or agent that has the potential to cause harm to consumers.”
For example, glass shards, metal staples, plastic fragments, stones, and small pieces of bone that may have found their way into food during production, processing, packaging, and shipping. If ingested, physical hazards may lead to choking, dental damage, laceration of the mouth, throat, or perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. Next week, learn how food processors reduce and minimize this risk for consumers.
I’m Susie Craig from Washington State University Extension.
Resources
Food and Drug Administration. Physical Hazards. Accessed online 5/22/23.
MyTestPrep. Understanding Physical Hazards in Food and ServSafe Certification. Accessed online 5/22/23.