Pulp manufacturer Huhtamaki has said that the risk to human health from the recent pulp tray contamination in South Africa is negligible, noting that the situation does not warrant a product recall.
Wil Rigby, general manager of Molded Fiber S.A, a division of international manufacturer Huhtamaki, said that two independent investigations on the risks to human health from the glass particles found in fruit trays have now been completed.
'The investigations were conducted by Dr J H Burgoyne and Partners LLP, a pre-eminent practice of consulting scientists and engineers, and Mr Simon Harris BSc MS FRCS, consultant laparoscopic, gastrointestinal and a general surgeon, who are both based in London,' Rigby explained.
'In summary, the glass particles found are very small, embedded in the fibre of the trays, and require effort to be dislodged. The negligible risk to human health is further reduced by the fact that the majority of fruit is also repacked prior to reaching the consumer,' he said.
Rigby added that there have been no reported injuries from consumers, although it is possible that the first contaminated trays were manufactured as early as September 2011 and because of this, significant volumes have been delivered through the supply chain.
“Because the trays can safely be used, fruit already packed in trays shall be released from quarantine and delivered (to customers). Although safe, unused trays shall be returned to Huhtamaki as a further precautionary measure. Whenever possible, Huhtamaki will replace these with new trays,' he explained.
Rigby said the incident related to the Huhtamaki molded fibre manufacturing unit in Atlantis, South Africa only. 'No traces of glass have been found in any other Huhtamaki molded fibre units.
“The origin of the contamination was confirmed to be linked to certain batches of raw material. All intake and use of raw material from the supplier in question was immediately stopped and raw material is currently sourced from an existing longstanding and trusted supplier. At the time of discovery, production in the Atlantis plant was stopped and all machinery fully cleansed and inspected. Extra inspection at both incoming raw material and finished product stages has been added to prevent a similar incident from occurring again.'
Huhtamaki remains committed to the recycling industry as core to sustaining the environment and will further enhance its quality assurance system, Rigby added.
'To eliminate all future risk of contamination, world-renowned experts in pulp preparation are advising us specifically on the removal of contaminants.'
The installation of new pulp cleaning equipment has already started in Atlantis. 'In addition, we will begin preparing our South Africa molded fibre facilities for BRC (British Retail Consortium) certification, which is already in place at all our European molded fibre facilities,' Rigby said, while also offering his apologies to the South African industry for the incident.
The glass particle contamination caused widespread disruption in the South African topfruit and stonefruit sectors, and there are likely to be substantial claims.
Meanwhile, South African industry body Hortgro said that it had held exploratory discussions with Huhtamaki with regards to possible coordinated actions to quantify and settle claims arising from this incident.
'We are hopeful that we will be able to agree a joint process and to establish a team of experts to calculate the quantum of possible claims on a case-by-case basis,” commented Hortgro's Anton Rabe.
Hortrgro advised packhouses and exporters to study legal opinion offered by Hortgro's lawyers, as well as to inform their insurers of the incident as soon as possible. 'All reasonable steps should be taken to minimise the quantum of any costs associated with this incident,' Rabe added.
'In the meantime we trust that the additional information will assist industry stakeholders to engage with their international and domestic clients in order to further deal with this incident in a constructive manner.'
