Bacteria tests step up pallet sanitation debate

Bacteria tests step up pallet sanitation debate    Intelligent Global Pooling Systems' recent tests of randomly sampled wood pallets for food shipments found Listeria and 'abnormally high counts of bacteria that could potentially create health hazards for consumers.'
   iGPS operates one of the world's largest plastic pallet rental pools. Each iGPS pallet is embedded with radio frequency tags for individual tracking. During the past year, the company has sparked a heated debate with the wood pallet industry over sanitation and health.
   'There is a growing body of evidence that wood pallets pose unacceptable risks to our nation's food supply,' said Bob Moore, chairman and chief executive officer of iGPS, in a statement on Wednesday.
   iGPS hired an independent, federally accredited laboratory to conduct the tests, which involved 30 wood pallets from a Portland, Maine, lobster and fish market and another 30 wood pallets from outdoor food markets in Philadelphia.

Moore

   The test of the Portland pallets found that five of 30 pallets tested positive for Listeria, three of which had the more serious strain, known as Listeria moncytogenes. The resulting food borne illness, known as Listeriosis, is the leading cause of death by ingested bacterial pathogens, responsible for about 500 deaths in the United States annually.
   In Philadelphia, 15 of the 30 pallets tested had abnormally high bacteria counts, exceeding 100,000 colonies or counts/gram. Nearly half (14 of 30) of the wood pallets tested in Maine had bacteria plate counts that exceeded 100,000 counts/gram.
   'It's clear from the tests we've conducted in Philadelphia and Portland, Maine, that wooden pallets can harbor a lot of bacteria, and even pathogens, because of wood's propensity to retain moisture,' said Peter Kmieck, director of Kappa Laboratories.
   Moore said iGPS will share its test data with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and has called on the agency to investigate and adopt measures to mitigate potential health risks associated with wood pallets.
   'There are more than 1 billion wood pallets used in the United States, so it's critical to understand the role they play in outbreaks of food poisoning,' Moore said. 'We also need an effective way to track and trace wood pallets in the supply chain so that FDA and USDA can identify the source of food contamination and quickly stop the spread of food borne illnesses.'
   As more plastic pallets enter the shipper supply chain, the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association has pointed up potential health and environmental concerns associated with fire retardants used in the manufacturer of these plastic pallets.
   Some plastic pallet makers, such as iGPS, have added the chemical fire retardant deca-bromine to ensure their pallets meet various fire safety regulations. Wood pallet makers have noted that several recent studies, including those conducted by the American Chemical Society and the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, demonstrate that fire retardant chemicals are increasingly showing up in the nation’s water supply.
   Deca-bromine is still considered by the federal government and product manufacturers to be safest fire retardant chemical and is widely used in the manufacture of household and workplace products, such as upholstery, carpet, drapery, television and computer cabinets, and electronic wire insulations.
   A number of retail food shippers have moved to all-plastic pallet pools in recent years, citing their own lists of safety and environmental concerns associated with wood pallets, such as cleanliness, damage and disposal.
   However, the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association has warned that shippers may reconsider their use of plastic pallets once they learn more about the potential risks associated with pallets containing deca-bromine. ' Chris Gillis