Foreign Object In Bottled Beverage Causes Severe Injury

Case Overview

This case involves a group of young adults who drank a bottle of wine which contained a metallic foreign object. One of the members of the group ended up with a foreign object lodged in her throat for several hours. She required immediate medical attention as well as a surgical procedure to remove the object. An expert familiar with the protocol for bottling and canning beverages was sought to discuss industry policies and procedures to ensure safe and adequate packaging.

Questions to the Food Safety expert and their responses

Please explain your expertise pertaining to beverage bottling and canning.

I am a food and beverage industry expert. I have a Ph.D. in food sciences and have reviewed a number of cases regarding safety and quality assurance systems. I am well qualified to speak to proper supply chain management systems for beverage bottling. I have previously worked for a winery where my evaluation started with growing the grapes, harvesting them, conversion to wine, and filling and sealing the wine bottles - in addition to the actual bottle manufacturing department. Recently, I developed a line of protein energy drinks for a group of doctors which included finding the best pasteurization and bottle and can-filling processors.

Are there specific standards and/or safety measures which must be taken to ensure no foreign objects find their way into a canned or bottled beverage?

For liquids like juices, wine, and beer, an inline metal detector could be used prior to the actual canning and lidding steps. I worked on a similar case where a leading poultry manufacturer failed to detect metal in a finished product and it ended in the consumer's throat.

About the expert

This highly qualified food and beverage safety expert earned his BS, MS, and PhD in Food Science at Kansas State University. He specializes integrated manufacture and supply chain management systems, integrate food safety and quality assurance systems, and product recall. This expert is highly regarded and active in his industry. He serves as an advisory board member at Tyson Food, Basic American Foods, and Surlean Meat Company and has authored numerous articles and books chapters for trade publications. This expert has held positions in quality assurance and safety systems including Manager of Regulatory Affairs at Griffith Labs International, Manager of Core Product Quality at Kentucky Fried Chicken/Pepsi Co,Supply Chain Management and Operations at Food Technical Consulting, VP, Global Research and Development of Quality Assurance, Church's Chicken, and VP, International Quality Assurance at Quiznos. This expert has expert witness experience and has qualified as a witness before multiple state courts. Currently, he is the President of a technical food consultancy.

E-011802

Specialties:

Food Safety