In recent news…
Two of the largest companies in the food industry have been faced with one major crisis: glass contamination has been reported in their products. In one case, consumers discovered glass shards in their frozen dinners. The other incident involved the discovery of broken glass from a light bulb found in a dough production area, forcing a restaurant chain to close 40 locations until it was verified the bread was indeed free of glass.
With one of the companies being a manufacturer of some of the most well known food and beverage brands in the world and the other being a global leading fast food chain, there is no doubt that this problem is one to be taken very seriously. Glass contamination could not only compromise the integrity of the organization’s reputation, but also results in thousands of dollars in cleanup, unsalable product and loss of revenue.
Why This Happened…
While the source of the glass in the frozen entrees has yet to be verified, the restaurant’s issue was indeed a direct consequence of having lighting in a food processing facility that did not provide the level of protection necessary to prevent accidental breakage of a light bulb. FDA code 110.20 Section B, Part 5 mandates that a facility must “…provide safety-type light bulbs, fixtures, skylights, or other glass suspended over exposed food in any step of preparation or otherwise protect against food contamination in case of glass breakage.” While it is possible these companies were adhering to the FDA regulation and the lighting was safeguarded to a degree, the protection failed when it was needed most.
Safety-Type Lighting Options…
When it comes to protective lighting, there are two options available: tube guards or shatter-resistant light bulbs. Tube guards are the least expensive but have the highest probability of failure. End caps can easily pop off, leaving the glass exposed if the light bulb were to break. End caps can also interfere with the fluorescent tube pins fitting properly into fixtures, posing risk to the performance of the lamp as well as being a potential fire hazard. Tube guards allow hot air to be trapped between the lamp and the plastic sleeve, which in turn will melt the tube rendering it ineffective once again. The risks associated with tube guards are so great that NEMA has formally published a warning surrounding their use. The other option for protective lighting is having a safety coating applied directly to the lamp to make it shatter-resistant. This offers the advantages of being fully covered without having to worry about end caps posing problems, as well as reducing the air gap between the light bulb and the plastic sleeve. While this option tends to be more reliable than tube guards, it can still pose risks. Many manufacturers’ coatings are made of substandard material, which will degrade over time due to UV emissions from the lamp. UV emissions can cause the coating to yellow, crack and flake off, falling into whatever is below (ie: food, packaging, etc.) and eventually leave the lamp unprotected.
And Then There Is Shat-R-Shield®…
Anyone looking for the most reliable, highest quality protective lighting options can rest assured that they are safe when using Shat-R-Shield’s safety-coated lamps and lighting products. The key differentiator between Shat-R-Shield and its competitors lies within the coating process: instead of applying a plastic sleeve onto the lamp, powder spraying, or hand dipping the lamp into its coating, Shat-R-Shield’s fluorescent lamps are coated through an extrusion process. A heated plastic material blend is applied directly onto the lamp, which results in the coating being skin-tight from end to end leaving no gap to trap heat. Virtually all glass, phosphors and mercury are safely contained within the clear and tough plastic coating if a lamp is accidentally broken. Shat-R-Shield’s coating material includes a patented UV blocking package which guarantees that the coatings will not yellow, crack or flake for the rated life of the lamp; the lamp is just as safe the day that it burns out as the day that it was installed.
In Conclusion…
Food and glass do not mix. It is safe to say if the restaurant chain had been using Shat-R-Shield safety-coated lamps, the threat of broken glass ending up in the dough production area would have been greatly reduced. As for the other food processing facility, the chances are high that the glass was from a broken lamp in which the coating material failed. Had Shat-R-Shield lamps been installed, the problem could have been adverted. When you’re protected with Shat-R-Shield, you know you’re safe.