Sewing needle found in sandwich on Delta AirLines flight

Staff sabotage via sewing needle

Staff sabotage, otherwise known as intentional contamination is alive and well after sewing needles were found in sandwiches. Delta Air Lines, a well know international air carrier, reported today that a business class passenger was injured by a sewing needle when they bit into a sandwich served as part of the in-flight meal. The foreign matter was identified during a flight from Amsterdam to the USA. Other sewing needles were also found to have been present in pre-packaged sandwiches on other Delta Air Lines flight originating from Amsterdam. HACCP Mentor - Needle in sandwich served on Delta airlines flight

A press release issued by the airline stated that, “Delta is taking this matter extremely seriously and is cooperating with local and federal authorities who are investigating the incident. Delta has taken immediate action with our in-flight caterer at Amsterdam to ensure the safety and quality of the food we provide onboard our aircraft,” the airline said in a written statement.

The catering company who supplied the sandwiches contaminated with sewing needles has been identified as Gate Gourmet. Spokeswomen Christina Ulosevich said that the company had not identified any similar contamination incidents and that Gate Gourmet were unsure as to how the needles got into the sandwiches.

Food safety and airline food

Food safety is promoted heavily on the Gate Gourmet website with information published supporting that the business operates under the most stringent health and safety regulations in the food service industry. The website also states that the Gate Gourmet voluntarily follow hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP). HACCP Mentor was not able to find any evidence on the Gate Gourmet website regarding HACCP certification or results of third party certification audits.

Lessons for the food industry

An interesting statement published on their website states that “Gate Gourmet conducts extensive monitoring and methodical food safety checks thousands of times a day every day at all of our kitchens”. In this case of sewing needles in sandwiches, this alone would suggest that there has been a break-down somewhere and the company is not working to their stated food safety objectives. It could also be the case that the business was doing everything possible but had not identified via their risk assessment the likelihood and consequence of the potential for this type of foreign matter.

Have you identified the potential for intentional contamination?

As a food company, now is the time to undertake a quick review of your own hazard analysis. Go through and check to see if your HACCP system has identified sabotage as a potential hazard at all steps where there is human contact. If yes, fantastic! But now check to see that adequate procedures and control measures are in place to prevent and eliminate this potential hazard.

If not – you have a bit of work to do. A word of warning – just because your third party auditor has not picked this up during a certification audit does not negate your responsibility in identifying staff sabotage as a potential hazard. Take action and protect your food business.

 

2 thoughts on “Sewing needle found in sandwich on Delta AirLines flight”

  1. Very great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to
    say that I have truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
    In any case I will be subscribing in your
    feed and I hope you write once more very soon!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get free HACCP advice and updates

Find out how to better implement and manage your HACCP, legal and food safety compliance requirements by joining the HACCP Mentor newsletter.

Scroll to Top