Case Study: Mama Rosie's, Boston, MA

For more than 30 years, Mama Rosie's Company, Inc. has made authentic Italian pasta in the Charlestown section of Boston. "There really was a 'Mama Rosie,"' Plant Manager Anthony "Dino" Stott said. "She was my grandmother." The company's 50 employees produce more than 100,000 pounds of frozen ravioli, manicotti, gnocchi, and cavatelle (a small pasta shell) a week for sale in supermarkets along the East Coast. With his grandmother's name on the line, Stott is very careful about the quality of his product.

"All of our products go through metal detection before being packed into a case," Stott said. "We've never had it happen, but with any product made by a machine, there is a very slight chance that we'll have metal shavings from our machines or in materials coming in from other manufacturers. If that got into the product, there'd be serious consequences if someone ingested it. They could have serious medical problems." Mama Rosie's also private labels product for major retail stores that demand metal detection to safeguard their own reputation and finances.