Services - Filth & Extraneous Analyses
In the highly specialized field of filth and extraneous materials analysis, Strasburger & Siegel is uniquely qualified.
Filth and extraneous material include any objectionable substances in foods.
- Filth ... namely, mold, rot, insect and rodent parts, excreta, decomposition.
- Foreign matter such as glass, metal, plastic, wood, stones, sand, cigarette butts.
- Undesirable parts of the raw plant material such as stems, pits in pitted olives, pieces of shell in canned oysters.
Our department head holds certifications from the American Association of
Cereal Chemists for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. He has over
20 years of experience and his work is accepted by the FDA.
Our experience in this area includes liaison work with regulatory agencies,
analysis of consumer complaints and vender certification studies. When you
have need for Macro Analysis, Light Filth or Heavy Filth Analyses on almost
any food product, our experienced team can handle your need. See the Fees
List or contact
us to discuss your specific needs.
There are three major areas of Filth & Extraneous Analysis:
Light Filth: The analysis of Light Filth is accomplished through a series of steps, starting with a pretreatment that removes fats, oils, soluble solids and fine particulate matter. This enhances the wettability of the food. The second step requires mixing the food with a water (water-alcohol) and oil mixture. The food will remain in the aqueous phase and the light filth with rise to the top with the oil phase. In the third step, the extracts filth elements are poured onto a ruled filter paper and examined under a stereo microscope using a 30X magnification. The identification and enumeration of filth elements can then be interpreted and reported.
Heavy Filth: Heavier filth material is separated by sedimentation based on different densities of filth, food particles and the immersion liquids such as CHCl3, CCl4, etc. Examples of Heavy Filth are: insect and rodent excreta pellets and excreta pellet fragments, sand or soil.
Macroscopic Examination: Macroscopic examinations are done from the consumer point of view, with unaided senses. Sight, smell, and taste can all be used to determine product defects. This is generally a dry procedure (depending on the analyst) to pick out, isolate, and identify defects. Methods have been developed that utilize various sieves, knives and hammers to aid in the detection of defects. Low magnification may also be employed to enhance the analyst’s vision and/or confirm suspected defects.
