Non-hardous contaminant???? If it is causing contamination, then it needs to be removed!
Example: pieces of cardboard in food. Will not cause sickness if ingested and probably would not cause injury. I assume you would consider this to be hon-hazardous. However, it is foreign material that is not allowed in food and thus is a contaminant that should not be present.
When talking about non-hazardous contaminants, I quickly think of insects in food. They are contaminants, but also a certain amount is allowed to be present per FDA, making them non-hazardous. Apparently you are allowed to have a few insects in some herbs/spices/peppers.
Just last week a customer complained to us because she saw one bug in our bag of dried chile pepper product and was angry and that we should "recall" all our products. But you can't really initiate a recall in that case. It is not identified as "hazardous".
Everytime we receive such products along with herbs and spices we test for animal/insect filth and use the guide to see how much is "allowed".
You would be surprised if there was an allowable level of cardboard in your food!
Edited by The Food Scientist, 01 April 2020 - 08:43 PM.