Generic HACCP Model for Thermally Processed Commercial

potential health hazards. For example, a product may be contaminated by a strong alkali from
a cleaning solution. Physical hazards include, but are not limited to, glass in baby food jars,
rubber from gaskets, and foreign objects or insecta not removed during cleaning prior to filling.
Chemical hazards may involve strong alkali from cleaning solutions, heavy metals, or pesticides.
Most of the physical and chemical hazards are introduced prior to filling and are not the result of
processing.
However, incidents of physical and chemical contamination are not well documented in the
literature since reporting of such incidents is not required as are cases of most foodborne illnesses.
The literature on foodborne illnesses that result from microbial contamination may list the number
of cases attributable to a certain bacteria or the percentage of persons affected in a defined
population. For physical and chemical hazards, on the other hand, the data usually list the number
of containers that are involved. For example, the percentage of containers with broken glass or
lead from solder are listed rather than the number persons affected. Many of these incidents, if
reported, will be reported to the processor rather than a public health department or hospital. In
addition, these types of contamination are usually observed before the product is consumed.
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