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Calbee recalls 5 million bags of potato crisps in Japan

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© 2012 AFP

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Oh no

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Crunchy and full of fla ow vor

0 ( +2 / -2 )

If the protection shield broke during production, why wasn't production stopped? Unless (somehow) they didn't notice...

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Some homeless centre will be getting tons od free crisps

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

How didn't they notice this? Profit's before people... sad

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Calbee's pizza potato chips with the cheese on top are the greatest chips ever made.

I'm glad everyone agrees with me on this. :-)

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

gogogo: No, You're the sad one for making such a pointless comment. Hence the recall.

-8 ( +4 / -12 )

I drove by this plant about a week ago and wondered what Calbee product was made there...now I know! It is a wonder that no one reported the broken protection shield before the chips could be shipped of. Kind of makes me wonder how thorough their daily plant inspections are or how hidden this protection shild was.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

just ship them to china... no pun intended.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

So that's why my weekly consommé big bag was missing at the shops.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

*chips

6 ( +7 / -1 )

@theResident: Recalled AFTER complaints. As gogogo and cl400 said, how come nobody noticed. No thorough inspection?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What a waste...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Calbee chips is my lifeline.... oh no!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

At the same time reports say Calbee is in talks to acquire UK's United Biscuits which holds the Mcvities brand. Enough news for one day.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Do they mean chips?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

SushiSake3Nov. 22, 2012 - 10:12AM JST

Calbee's pizza potato chips with the cheese on top are the greatest chips ever made.

I certainly ate them frequently on my last holiday - no glass shards then :thumbs up:

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What are potato crisps? JT how about lot numbers and production date.

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Found the real story here: http://japandailypress.com/snack-maker-calbee-recalls-potato-chips-over-fear-of-broken-glass-2118728 Calbee says two of the flavors in the Kataage Potato line are only sold in the Kansai region, while the other are sold across Japan. For those of you in Japan with questions or concerns, you can call Calbee at this toll-free number: 0120-558570. The affected products are as follows: Kansai Dashijoyu in the 65-gram and 80-gram sizes; Usushio Aji, 60 grams and 80 grams; Nori Aji, 65 grams and 80 grams; Black Pepper, 65 grams and 70 grams; and Yuzu Kosho Aji, 63 grams.

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cl400Nov. 22, 2012 - 09:14AM JST

If the protection shield broke during production, why wasn't production stopped? Unless (somehow) they didn't notice...

Ignorance of this type is common among those with no engineering experience. Many of these factories are fully automated, and all the "breakable" parts are made of metal, usually steels. If it had been steel bits, even tiny slivers, the system would have automatically shut down or at least removed the affected products and informed operators.

Sadly, there's not much you can do about glass without a full sweep of the facility, it's actually very hard to detect with most commercial systems, even computer vision aided ones. It's good that some people informed them, if more people did the same, many industrial errors could be fixed much faster. If it wasn't for the single person that actually contacted them it might have never been known.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

So basically a glass shield broken on the production line lead to.........................nothing, carry on! . . . . ONLY when consumers FOUND GLASS in their chips did some one get up off their arse & go check the production line...................WTF!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Don't care for Calbee crisps much. The regular range of flavours is pretty boring.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Make that 4,999,999 bags recalled, no glass in the one I just munched down!

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GWNov. 22, 2012 - 10:39PM JST

So basically a glass shield broken on the production line lead to.........................nothing, carry on!

It's a glass cover to a light fixture, not something people regularly look at. How many times have you spotted cobwebs in the rafters of a building? I bet zero. This is far more difficult to find than even that.

ONLY when consumers FOUND GLASS in their chips did some one get up off their arse & go check the production line

I bet you they inspected the place plenty of times, certainly every time metal pieces are discovered by their detectors. Some things are simply impossible to predict, and the actual fault likely falls on the manufacturer of the lighting unit or the installer, rather than Calbee.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Basroil,

Don't know how many food manufacturing companies you have worked for but in my experience food manufacturers do not (should not) use glass over open production areas. And if glass is used over open food areas of a production area then either the glass or the line should be covered with a Perspex or similar material. Not to mention that most reputable food companies have a quality audit at least once per shift so that an incident similar to this results in only 1 shifts product being placed on hold and not requiring a recall. Guess the Japanese rant big on GMP's or HACCP. not to mention ISO or BRC whichever quality system they fall under. Major blunder here.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Outta hereNov. 23, 2012 - 02:08PM JST

food manufacturers do not (should not) use glass over open production areas. And if glass is used over open food areas of a production area then either the glass or the line should be covered with a Perspex or similar material.

Not debating that at all. Hence why I said the manufacturer and companies that installed the stuff should be checked out. While AFP stated it's glass, it could actually be polycarbonate or a dozen other "glass" types that aren't actually glass. As a precaution, Calbee should double check all other places with "glass" to make sure they are up to standards.

Not to mention that most reputable food companies have a quality audit at least once per shift so that an incident similar to this results in only 1 shifts product being placed on hold and not requiring a recall.

As the other article quoted states, there was exactly one case. Very likely only a small portion of a single batch was of issue, small enough that QC doesn't spot it simply because the bad sample is too small to have any chance of being caught. These companies don't exactly run six sigma, QC isn't usually a life or death thing for them, so their QC is usually geared towards major malfunctions rather than temporary and sudden issues. They should however learn to spot and report malfunctions and equipment problems sooner, since the last full inspection they had was probably late july (and reason why they recalled all packages since then).

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

basroil

Not debating that at all. Hence why I said the manufacturer and companies that installed the stuff should be checked out.

I'm sorry but this has nothing whatsoever to do with either the manufacturers or installers of the product. It is wholly an issue of poor quality systems on the part of calbee pure and simple. If the product is glass and calbee would have been aware when it was installed most quality systems for food manufacturing dictate at least one redundancy to prevent contamination. Most reputable manufacturers use two. I.e a Perspex cover over the light and a Perspex cover over the product area.

While AFP stated it's glass, it could actually be polycarbonate or a dozen other "glass" types that aren't actually glass. As a precaution, Calbee should double check all other places with "glass" to make sure they are up to standards.

Whether its glass or polycarbonate. There still should be a shatter proof product between it and the product. That is standard to most food manufacturing standards. Also the contaminant was identified as glass not only by AFP but also Calbee on their own website where they say the glass was part of a protective covering. Huh sorry but that is a massive no no in food manufacturing. And anyone with food manufacturing experience knows that.

as the other article quoted states, there was exactly one case.

Yes there has been one case detected. How many undetected? According to Calbees website there are fragments. So it could be one bag or several or a run. I don't know about you but l don't want to eat glass with my chips.

Very likely only a small portion of a single batch was of issue, small enough that QC doesn't spot it simply because the bad sample is too small to have any chance of being caught.

Sorry but that's a bad comment, if QC was doing its job correctly then it would have identified the issue within a shift and only 1 shifts production would be on hold not 4 months worth. To me that says that at a minimum Calbee conducts QC inspections every 4 months. That is disgraceful.

These companies don't exactly run six sigma

You do realise six sigma isn't a QC tool but is a tool for increasing productivity and repeatability and has nothing to do with this. The terms you are looking for are GMPs and HACCP. Which are hygiene and food safety tools.

QC isn't usually a life or death thing for them,

Ok that nails it. With that statement l can categorically say you have never worked in a food manufacturing business. L can tell you with in excess of 10 years in food manufacturing in numerous companies big and small. Every single one of them takes QC seriously. And it isa life or death thing for them. QC has the power to shut a business down, without QC there is no food safety accreditation, no ISO or other accreditation. Simply no QC no business. And anyone who has worked in the industry knows that.

so their QC is usually geared towards major malfunctions rather than temporary and sudden issues.

WEll if that's the case then they have no right selling food to consumers. And if that is the case they should be shut down. In every food manufacturer l have worked for they conduct one to two QC audits per 8 hour shift at a minimum and we looked at protective covers, strainers, magnets, fixtures and fittings, even the clothing of the employees and we put product on hold the second something was a miss. This company went 4 months......

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Great now i have to worry about glass in my potato chips! Is there anything safe to eat anymore??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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