When is Garbage, not Garbage?

       At the risk of giving away "trade secrets," I have a confession to make:  I love garbage. 

       Before I get any further, I must be clear:  I always try to start out an inspection by taking a peak at the facility's garbage bins.  So, its not that I really "love" what's thrown out, you know; it just makes my job so much more interesting!  In that sense, it's not really "dump stuff"-- its really useful.  You might say, "it's not really garbage!"

Let  me share 2 ways that garbage is useful to this Field Representative--
1.  Are employees eating their usually non-kosher lunches in dedicated areas?  It's really easy to find out-- just look in the trash bins!  If food wrappers and left-overs are just off the production area, not in the lunch room cans, then its quite likely that there may be some comingling at best, and cross-contamination at worst.
2.  Is the list of approved ingredients (otherwise known as "schedule A")  accurate?  Look at the garbage dumpsters, especially the recycling ones.  There, you'll often find the ready-to-be-donated cardboard boxes and 50-100 lb. bags, neatly emptied of product.  If there are any new items being used, not on the A-- the evidence is there.

A story to illustrate point number 2 should be helpful.  I recently found a box of a cube of baker's margarine outside a bakery.  The label on the box indicated it was a private label product that was not on the bakery's schedule A, and what's more, there was no kosher logo on the label.  Problem?  Maybe.  When I asked the new production manager and showed him the box in the dumpster, he denied the company even used it  (hey-- I wasn't born yesterday, you know--- there was flour all over the box!  The forman was located, and he sheepishly admitted that they had been running low and he had run out to pick up some extra.)  We eventually found another container in the warehouse of a similar product with the exact same type of inkjet time/date product number printed, only this other product had a kosher logo and was on the schedule A.  So-- it's likely this other product that was found in the dumpster is acceptable, too, but not certain, at least after the fact.  The jury is still out on this one (I'll let you know what happens when I find out), but in the meantime, I'm thankful for garbage for giving me the lead I needed to help this company correct a potentially disasterous error.

So in closing, have a "stinky" day (at least garbage-wise)-- it's showing your RFR you're in compliance!