How does rubber get into food you ask? Food Processing machines have rubber seals in them. The seals are exposed to harsh chemicals during the cleaning and sanitizing process or can wear over time causing the rubber to breakdown.
Seals made from rubber that have been compounded to withstand caustic chemicals should be used in this environment. However, these too will breakdown over time, so following a preventative maintenance schedule and replacing them prior to that will help.
Secondly, using metal/X-ray detectable rubber will allow a processor to screen the product to find foreign material prior to packaging and shipping.
These materials are FDA, 3A grades of rubber that can be detected in the food if they break off.
Visually, they are blue. There are not a lot of blue foods so workers can see if there are rubber particles contaminating the product.
A food manufacturer can use a metal detector or X-ray system to screen for material in the food. This system will pick up metal or this special type of rubber. General purpose rubber will not be found by these systems because it doesn’t contain the ingredients necessary for detection.
Precision Associates makes a variety of O-rings and other rubber products in X-ray and metal detectable rubber compounds.
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