A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry May 1996
Contents: Salmonella from unexpected sources | BSE: an update | HACCP and national food hygiene legislation | Victorian food hygiene project | Campylobacter food infection | Australian meat standards | Food irradiation | Tainting: always a potential problem
Tainting: always a potential problem
Tainting of foods remains a cause of serious commercial losses to the industry. The source of these taints is extremely varied (see CSIRO Food Research Quarterly 43 1983 pp.96-106) but one not uncommon source has been the vessels or containers used in international trade.
It is therefore somewhat surprising that liquid oils and fats for processing have been excluded from a 1993 European Union directive (93/43 EEC) which requires tanks used in sea transport to be exclusively used for food. This directive permits oil or fat for processing to be transported in either a stainless steel tank or one lined with epoxy resin, provided the immediately previous cargo features in a list of approved cargoes. For other types of tank, the directive permits oil or fat for processing to be carried, providing the three preceding cargoes are on the acceptable previous cargoes list.
Further, when oils or fats are intended for human consumption without further processing, then the directive will allow transport in tanks that are not exclusively reserved for foods under two conditions:
- the tank must be of stainless steel or lined with epoxy resin or its technical equivalent,
- the three previous cargoes must have been foods.
While further processing may remove some tainting materials from fats and oils, it will not necessarily remove all. Similarly, while the structural material of a tank may lend itself to proper cleaning, this in itself will not guarantee that such cleaning takes place.
Food manufacturers are cautioned to take all possible precautions to ensure that tainting of food at any stage of manufacture is avoided.
Food Science Australia
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