A dietary supplement factory experienced a small fire and was worried about the risk of combustion by-products spreading throughout the factory. Click on the image below to watch this case study and learn how scientists at Eurofins SFA located the contamination and reduced factory closure from 
multiple weeks to a few days:
Eurofins SF Analytical is renowned for successfully investigating the most challenging problems in food, beverages, and packaging; including product recall support, insurance, and legal investigation. Our experts’ range of expertise from microbiology to analytical chemistry coupled with years of experience makes them the ideal team for foreign material and contamination investigations. Click here to connect with an expert, or visit our website to learn about the full range of offerings.
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Transcript:
The Challenge
A suspected fire in a dietary supplements factory may have resulted in the dispersal of hazardous combustion by-products throughout the facility, including raw materials, works in process, and packaging and finished product areas. It was unknown how far the combustion by-products spread in the factory, and our client expected it to take weeks to isolate and clean the contamination in the facility.
Our Approach
Our team traveled to the factory and used a sterile 70% IPA prep to collect samples from all over the factory to determine where the contamination was located. We used a level 2,3 combustion by-product analysis for soot, char, and ash, which included a variety of optical and electron microscopy methods (SEM/TEM). Importantly, we used TEM to analyze the spread of aciniform soot.
The Solution
Our inspection isolated the contamination to a single line connected to a section of the ventilation system. The company cleaned the line, effectively removing the source of by-products. Isolating the issue allowed for streamlined, targeted cleaning which resulted in the factory reopening in a few days, as opposed to the anticipated few weeks.
Our Team
Eurofins SF Analytical is renowned for successfully investigating the most challenging problems in the food, beverages, and supplement industries, including:
- packaging issues
- product recall support
- insurance and legal investigations
