Updates on News Stories We Covered Before: "Exploding" Glassware and a Contaminated Peanuts Plant

The end of a calendar always inspires a look back. In our case, we researched to find out if two food-related horror stories we wrote about resulted in any changes for the better. So let's see what's been in the news about "exploding" glassware and contaminated peanuts since we last covered these major stories.

"Exploding" glassware:

The Pyrex glass bakeware that your mom and grandma used (purchased prior to the mid-1980s) was not likely to explode and spatter them and their kitchen with casserole fragments and glass shards.  But, in the mid-1980s, things changed: same name, but different company and different product.  First, Corning Glass Works switched from making Pyrex with borosilicate glass to using soda lime.  Then, it sold the Pyrex name and technology to a company called World Kitchen.  That company continued to use soda lime but no longer adequately tempered the glass to make it sufficiently resistant to thermal stress (caused by rapid changes in temperature).  The result:  many years of complaints from customers who were injured by flying glass and others who were dismayed when their dinner "exploded" in their hands or on their counter. 

Shelf Life Advice first wrote about these accidents on February 10, 2010, in an article entitled "Pyrex Glassware: Is It Safe to Use?"  We followed that piece with another: "Pyrex--What's This? A Lesson in Safety?"  Then, in its January 2011 issue, Consumer Reports published a long report on their testing of glassware products. The Consumer Reports article pointed out that glass cookware made in Europe can handle rapid temperature change better than the American-made products by Pyrex and Anchor Hocking, which have 75% of the market in the U.S.

Shortly after the Consumer Reports article came out, Shelf Life Advice revisited the topic, with a piece entitled "Shattering Glass Bakeware Back in the News". It summarized the Consumer Reports article and listed the many safety precautions one must take in order to protect oneself from an injury caused by flying glass cookware.  If you are using American-made glass bakeware (less than 25+ years old), read and follow our warnings and any others you find on the product box or on  the manufacturer's website. 

 Scientists concerned about the flying glass hazard pursued the matter in an attempt to find out why soda lime products were more fragile.  According to an article in the September 2012 edition of the Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society and summarized on the website Laboratory Equipment, the scientists found that "soda lime glass cookware shatters more frequently because, in theory, it can resist fracture stress for temperature differentials less than about 55°C (99°F).  In contrast, they estimate that the borosilicate glassware could tolerate a temperature differential of about 183°C (330°F)."  That's why, if you take your Pyrex casserole dish right from the oven and place it on a cold counter, it may "explode."

Still a bit muddy on what makes glass shatter and what protects it from shattering?  Here are explanations from two scientific sources:

1) From PopSci.com: When glass is heated too quickly, the inside expands, which puts stress on the glass on the outside.  When stress gets too great, it cracks, as shown in the video. Editor's note: (Quick cooling also creates stress.]  The original Pyrex formula solved the problem by adding boron to the silica (Silica is quartz, the main ingredient of glass).  Boron altered the atomic structure of glass and kept it from expanding regardless of temperature. (That gave consumers the famous "oven to icebox" Pyrex product.)

2) From Dr. Sheldon Mostovoy, a metallurgist and professor of materials engineering, who tested the Pyrex soda lime glass:  "First, soda lime glass can be 'tempered' to resist shattering when thermal stresses are high. But there still is a maximum temperature differential which, if exceeded, causes shattering. No doubt, many of the fractures result from too high a differential in spite of a proper tempering job. Add to the mix improper tempering and a used dish that has scratches neutralizing the temper, and you have the makings of lots of fractures." 

For years, Dr. Mostovoy has been advocating for a change in the Pyrex formula--for a return to the use of borosilicate or an improvement of the company's tempering process. 

Until Pyrex becomes safer, Shelf Life Advice repeats its previous recommendations to consumers: buy either European-made glassware or metal baking pans.  Perhaps if enough consumers do choose one of those, soda lime glassware will go the way of the butter churn.

Recalls of peanuts and products containing peanuts:

Remember the huge number of recalls related to Sunland, Inc. peanuts and peanut butter that occurred from September through November 2012?  It's impossible for Shelf Life Advice to forget them because they totaled 240!  Furthermore, the resulting multi-state food-borne illness outbreak involved 41 reported cases of salmonella poisoning.  Shelf Life Advice did its best to warn you about possibly contaminated foods but couldn't quite keep up with the onslaught.  Sunland, Inc., the nation's largest organic peanut butter processor, also produced many non-organic items. Its possibly contaminated products were used by many other companies to make brownies, ice cream, candy, and other edibles, thus causing massive recalls.

So here's the update on this huge number of recalls: right after the Thanksgiving weekend, the FDA took an action we can all be thankful for: it suspended Sunland, Inc.'s registration as a food facility, thereby preventing the company from producing and distributing food.  In flexing its administrative muscle, the FDA employed the authority given to it by the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (the FSDA). 

What's next for Sunland?  According to the Huffington Post, "The company has a right to a hearing and must prove to the agency that its facilities are clean enough to reopen."  The FDA shuttered Sunland with no warning, but that move followed a month-long investigation during which inspectors found salmonella in 28 different locations in the plant.  In addition, the FDA found improper handling of products; dirty equipment; and trailers of peanuts left uncovered, leaving their products exposed to rain and birds. On November 9, Sunland sent a response to the FDA's report on findings, outlining the company's a plan for preventing further contamination of the plant.  The company expected to reopen in November or December.  However, evidently, the FDA felt contamination was too widespread to allow that to happen. At least for now, the Sunland plant is closed, and I can comfortably enjoy munching on a handful of peanuts along with my holiday eggnog. 

Source(s):

laboratoryequipment.com "Modern Shatterproof glassware isn't as safe as original"

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/09/modern-shatterproof-glassware-isn’t-safe-original

shelflifeadvice.com "Purchased Peanut Butter or Almond Butter Recently? Check Out These Recalls" 

http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/purchased-peanut-butter-or-almond-butter-recently-check-out-these-recalls

shelflifeadvice.com "Many Recalls of Items Containing Nuts and Nut Products"

http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/many-recalls-items-containing-nuts-and-nut-products

huffingtonpost.com "Sunland Peanut Butter Plant Shuttered by FDA, In First-Ever Use Of New Powers, After Huge Recall"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/sunland-peanut-butter-plant-fda_n_2194620.html

huffingtonpost.com  "Sunland: FDA Didn't Warn of Peanut Butter Recall-Related Suspension"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/sunland-fda-peanut-butter_n_2206353.html

popsci.com  "Video: They Sure Don't Make Pyrex Like They Used To"

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/gray-matter-cant-take-heat

Sheldon Mostovoy, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology