Study confirms cleanliness of corrugated shipping containers
The study examined corrugated containers from various manufacturers at three separate end-user locations for the presence of two pathogenic indicator organisms.
Periodic testing performed to a protocol designed by food safety, microbiology and toxicology experts from the University of California-Davis, Davis, Calif., and Haley & Aldrich, Burlington, Mass., and sponsored by the corrugated industry, confirms corrugated containers used to transport fresh produce are safe and clean.
“Ninety-nine percent of the samples evaluated were well below the sanitation levels of 1,000 colony forming units (CFU) per swab for the organisms tested,” says Maryann Sanders, product stewardship leader and microbiologist for ERM Group, Inc., London.