Arlington, Texas – September 18, 2026 -- Plastic has overtaken metal as the most frequently reported contaminant in food manufacturing, cited by 37% of respondents in FlexXray's third annual Foreign Material Contamination in Food Benchmark Report.
Detection investment growth slows even as confidence in equipment stays flat
The share of food producers planning to increase detection investment fell to 57% in 2026 from roughly 70% in 2025, according to the report, based on survey responses from more than 170 food safety and manufacturing professionals across North America. Confidence that in-line equipment catches all foreign material has not improved despite prior years of investment growth.
Most producers still handle contamination events with internal resources
63% of producers rely on in-house resources by default when managing a foreign material event, the survey found, pointing to limited adoption of third-party inspection and remediation services even as contamination profiles shift.
"For three years now, this report has given food safety and manufacturing leaders real industry data to benchmark their own programs against," said Kurt Westmoreland, Chief Commercial Officer at FlexXray. He said this year's findings cover event frequency, equipment confidence, investment patterns and response behavior across the industry.