Consumer complaints regarding foreign material reported from food products will continue to be a significant issue for the food industry. However, careful study of data from a wide range of foreign matter investigations demonstrates that in many cases the occurrence of foreign matter is far from random, and specific types of foreign bodies are often associated with particular types of food product, processing method or packaging type. The results of such a study can be used to identify the major foreign matter hazards and in some cases introduce cost-effective controls to reduce those risks.