What are the Hazards?

Hazards are a way to classify incidents based on the type of hazard that caused the incident

The Hazards categories are used in the Incidents search to help filtering posts, it is available by Industry, based on this selection, you may have different entries. 

Food and Feed Industry

The list of hazards for the food and feed industry is designed to cover the most common causes of incidents in the area. Here below is the definition of each of the available classes.

Label

Description

Examples

Adulteration

intentional law violation, deliberate putting food on the market with the intention of deceiving the consumer, often by a composition change

adulteration / fraud / composition

Allergens

unwanted / undeclared presence of substances or ingredients that can cause allergic reactions

Undeclared egg and wheat / Undeclared Soy / Sulfites / Possible presence of Gluten

Bio-contaminants

contamination with microscopic organisms, like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Sometimes, it can also include the contamination with macroscopic organisms, like insects

biological contaminants / mycotoxins / natural toxins / parasitic infestation / TSEs / virus / Clostridium botulinum / Listeria moncytogenes / Hepatitis A

Contaminants

contamination with chemical or physical entities that can alter the quality or safety (contaminants can enter the food supply chain include pesticides, heavy metals, and other alien chemical agents.)

chemical contaminants / environmental pollutants / foreign bodies / metals / Elevated levels of histamine / Excessive levels of lead / Presence of Arsenic / pesticide residues

Food contact materials

variety of materials, including plastics, rubber, paper, coatings, metal, etc migrating from materials to food

food contact materials/migration

Labelling

presence of substances or ingredients not declared (excluding allergens and composition) in label or labelling absent/incomplete/incorrect

feed additives /food additives and flavourings / genetically modified food or feed / Mislabeling / Unapproved Ingredient / novel food

Process/logistic

alterations related to problems in the production chain, process, methods and transport

packaging defective / Improper Pasteurization / Incorrect Storage / Possible low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1) / Lack of Quality Assurance / poor or insufficient controls

Other hazard

everything that does not fall into the previous categories - because for example the data is not available - and must not be included in the training set

Organoleptic aspects / Off Taste Off Odor / radiation