Assessing the Physical Contamination of Food through the Use of Metallic Staple Pins during Packaging with the Kenyan Market as a Case Study

This investigation focuses on evaluating the threats of physical contamination that metallic staple pins that different producers use in packaging foodstuffs. The investigation focuses on the Kenyan food market with a highlight of the industrial application of the staple pins along with their use in fast-food joints and other secondary producers. This study evaluates such applications and finds them to be common in teabags as the most prominent industrial applicator. Other uses include secondary producers in fast-food joints and street vendors of food products such as potato chips that require quick packaging. The study also finds that the ban on single-use plastic bags in Kenya along with the absence of regulations motivated the rise of staple pin use in food packaging. The most common hazards relating to the presence of staple pins as a contaminant are the potential physical injuries to the digestive system on the consumers. The zinc used to galvanize the metallic pins also poses significant chemical harm as a heavy metal to the consumers. This study evaluates remedies to the problems in terms of policies and regulations to curb the practice, public awareness to discourage vendors and consumers from the habit, and incentivizing the creation and use of alternative packaging modes. This evaluation concludes that the use of metallic staple pins in food packaging in Kenya is harmful and further assessments are necessary to remedy the problem and provide appropriate solutions.