In the food and pharmaceutical industries, particular attention is paid to microbiological hazards, chemical residues, and foreign material contamination. For example, plastic parts can find their way into products during manufacturing, processing, or packaging—for instance, through damaged tools, machine components, seals, or packaging materials. Unlike metal, conventional plastic parts generally cannot be detected by existing metal detectors.
Growing Importance for Quality Management
In 2025, a total of 323 recall notices were published on the official portal lebensmittelwarnung.de for Germany alone, 291 of which concerned food products. The rising number does not necessarily mean that products are becoming less safe. It also indicates that inspections, detection methods, and public recall practices have become more rigorous. For manufacturers, however, foreign object management remains an important economic and liability-related issue.
Direct and Indirect Costs of a Recall
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the average cost of a major food product recall is approximately 9.5 million euros. Allianz reported a figure of approximately 8 million euros in the 2010s. Direct costs include the recall, transportation, storage, testing, and destruction of affected batches, refunds, additional staffing, and external communications. Added to this are potential production stoppages and the procurement of replacement products.
In the long term, the indirect consequences can be even more severe: damage to brand trust, lost revenue, strained relationships with trading partners, additional audits, higher insurance and quality costs, and a potential loss of market share. Root cause analyses and process changes also tie up significant resources. The value of the goods in the affected batch therefore often represents only a small portion of the total loss.
Possible health consequences
The problem takes on a whole new dimension when people’s health is actually harmed. With food, the primary concerns are injuries to the mouth, throat, or digestive tract, as well as choking hazards. Often, an entire batch is affected and must be recalled as quickly as possible.
In the pharmaceutical industry, even stricter requirements apply to purity, sterility, and the absence of particles. Foreign particles in injection and infusion solutions are particularly critical because they can enter the bloodstream directly.
Recent Food-Related Incidents
In July 2025, Danone U.S. recalled all YoCrunch yogurt varieties on the market. Transparent plastic pieces had been reported in the separately packaged toppings; some had sharp edges and measured between 7 and 25 millimeters in length, posing a choking or injury hazard.
In early January 2026, Kaufland in Germany recalled frozen K-Classic spinach: The presence of foreign plastic particles in the affected batch could not be ruled out.
In June 2026, Rügenwalder Mühle recalled several batches of its vegan Mühlen Cordon Bleus. Some products may have contained transparent plastic particles. The affected products had been sold nationwide, as well as in parts of Austria and Switzerland.
Current Cases in the Pharmaceutical Industry
In August 2025, B. Braun recalled two batches of infusion solutions due to visible particles. This was followed in April 2026 by another recall of Ringer’s solution. The particles found in the solution were identified as cellulose and stearates with minor inorganic components. Such foreign matter can cause, among other things, vascular occlusions, inflammation, or organ damage. Although these cases did not specifically involve Plastic, they demonstrate how seriously physical contaminants are taken in the pharmaceutical industry.
Protecting Production and Employees Through the Use of Appropriate Tools
Foreign-body contamination prevention in sensitive industries can only be achieved through a comprehensive approach that takes into account the entire manufacturing process, all the way through to shipment. One of many tasks is the selection and control of all work equipment. Effective measures include, for example, the mandatory specification of tools, the documented issuance and return of these tools, regular visual inspections, secure storage, and clear assignment. The company’s own detectors and sensors must also be tailored to the specific product, the line speed, and the smallest reliably detectable part size.
When it comes to cutting tasks in production environments, it is recommended to implement and use cutting tools that are fully metal detectable. Choosing to use safety knives can optimize not only production safety but also workplace safety.
According to the German Social Accident Insurance, there are still about 34,200 knife-related cutting accidents per year in Germany alone, resulting in an average time off work of more than seven days. Safety knives can also help prevent these incidents.
MDP Cutting Tools from MARTOR
The MDP safety knives from Solingen-based market leader MARTOR are made entirely or partially of high-quality, metal detectable plastic. The blue color—which is rather unusual, especially in the food industry—enhances visual recognition. The metal handles are stainless and uncoated, and the blades are also stainless. Lost components can—depending on the detector, its calibration, and the specific production environment—be reliably detected as foreign objects and filtered out of the production process before they leave the facility with the goods. Safety features such as blade retraction or a Concealed blade also reduce both cuts and damage to goods.
MARTOR's MDP safety knives comply with the requirements of Regulations (EC) No. 1935/2004 and (EU) No. 10/2011 and are suitable for direct contact with food. This information can be found in the Declaration of Conformity, which MARTOR provides on its website.
Engravings on the knife handle, such as those offered by MARTOR, improve the traceability of work equipment. MARTOR’s MDP test cards, which contain plastic test specimens ranging in size from 2.5 to 8 millimeters, allow detectors to be tested and fine-tuned under real-world conditions.
Metal detectable safety knives from MARTOR are not a substitute for a comprehensive HACCP, GMP, or foreign object management program. However, they fill an important gap by combining contamination protection, traceability, and workplace safety in a single, controllable piece of equipment.
