The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting public health through a healthy and sanitary food supply. It does this through FDA regulations for food, inspections, and partnership with the food and beverage industry. In overseeing food producers, the FDA’s jurisdiction covers a broad range of products and processes all with differing levels of risk. FDA guidelines for food safety attempt to mitigate these risks, but this is where physical solutions like wire cloth and mesh play their part in food safety.
Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 110 (21 CFR 110) details current food good manufacturing processes (GMPs). These are the foundation for many FDA compliance inspections as they relate to:
Methods, equipment, facilities, and controls for food production
Minimum sanitary and processing requirements
The current GMPs have seven subparts which are further subdivided into additional sections.
Pizza Mesh Screen
The following five subparts are covered briefly here but more details are located on the FDA’s website.
Subpart A – Defines when regulatory compliance is required or simply recommended and employee personal hygiene
Subpart B – Outlines facility maintenance, and waste control and describes sanitary operations and requirements
Subpart C – Describes equipment and utensil design to ensure sanitary conditions
Subpart E – Covers sanitary processes and controls to maintain food safety and final product storage
Subpart G – Details the maximum permissible amounts of foreign contaminants and defects in food that do not pose a health hazard. This includes rodent filth, insects, and mold
When a food exceeds the FDA’s defect action level (DAL) it is considered “adulterated” and subject to regulatory enforcement. The FDA sets DALs for many foods, but for those it does not it evaluates samples and decides on a case-by-case basis. Consider these two FDA definitions that underscore the importance of wire cloths, meshes, and 3A certified strainers in food production.
Extraneous materials – “Any foreign matter in a product associated with objectionable conditions or practices in production, storage, or distribution. Includes objectionable matter contributed by insects, rodents, and birds; decomposed material; and miscellaneous matter such as sand, soil, grass, rust, or other foreign substances.”
Foreign matter – “Objectionable matter such as sticks, stones, burlap bagging, cigarette butts, etc. Also includes the valueless parts of the raw plant material, such as stems.”
BBQ Smoker Tube
Food manufacturers are directed by the FDA to not use DALs as their standard for quality and that contaminant levels should be much lower. These are two examples of DALs, but a more extensive list is found here.
Frozen broccoli – Average of 60 or more aphids, thrips, and/or mites per 100 grams
Canned tomatoes – Five or more fly eggs and one or more maggots per 500 grams, two or more maggots per 500 grams
Woven wire cloth is used extensively in food handling and food manufacturing. It is manufactured with mesh openings ranging anywhere from five inches to 20 microns. Strength, weight, durability, flow characteristics, heat, and corrosion resistance are critical factors to consider when choosing a wire cloth food filter material. Wire cloth is commonly woven from stainless steel wire due to its relatively low cost and high tensile strength.
The FDA sets mandatory guidelines to protect the public’s food supply
FDA regulations restrict the level of acceptable food contaminants
Safety wire mesh, cloth, and 3A certified strainers are an effective way to prevent, reduce and eliminate contaminants during food production
Anping county Tengde metal wire mesh products co.,ltd. is a manufactory with 20 years of experience in productions and research and development. Our main products include stainless steel wire mesh, wire mesh production series, filter, and filter material.
Contact them today to discuss how to wire cloth can help improve the sanitation and hygiene of your food processing facility.
