Report intensifies debate over safety of RPCs
The competition between advocates of corrugated packaging and reusable plastic containers has come to a boil over the safety of reusable plastic containers (RPCs).
On one side is Corrugated Packaging Delivers, an organization of growers, packers, shippers, companies and associations in the U.S. and Canada that supports the use of single-use corrugated as the best alternative for food packaging.
In opposition is The Reusable Packaging Association (RPA), an organization of manufacturers, poolers, distributors, retailers and educators to promote the environmental, safety, and economic benefits of reusable packaging.
Corrugated Delivers cited a group of research reports that show how sanitizing and scrubbing RPCs does not “erase” the risk of food contamination. RPA countered the reports, cautioning that their findings should “be met with extreme caution.”
Corrugated Packaging Delivers used findings, released by the University of Arkansas Center for Food Safety in the Department of Food Science, to claim that bacteria adheres and forms biofilms on reusable containers used to ship produce, meat and eggs. Bacterial pathogens found in the biofilms includes salmonella, listeria and E. coli.
The Arkansas study, led by researcher Steven Ricke, found that both commercial and industrial sanitizing and scrubbing methods such as hot water, alkaline detergent, quaternary ammonium and chlorine, could not eliminate biofilms. The study involved three tests of RPCs as a platform for generating the biofilms of the pathogens.
“Our research regularly looks at biological functionality to basic food safety implications from farm to fork; how pathogens form, how they transfer to food and how the consumer becomes exposed,” Ricke said.
The biofilms were formed and confirmed using a technology called Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The biofilms grew and were sanitized using methods typically employed in commercial and industrial settings, including scrubbing.
In all cases, his research found that bacteria attached to the RPC and could not be dislodged by either sanitizers or physical scrubbing, according to a Corrugated Packaging Delivers press release.
“The risk to a potential victim cannot be seen, as these biofilms are not visible to the naked eye,” Ricke said. “Plus biofilms are resilient to cleaning, which makes them survive on surfaces and hide in cracks and crevices of the material in which they attach, so it all adds up to potential risk, even sustained risk, pending the exposure.”
The way to eliminate these contamination risks, according to Ricke, is to choose single-use packaging over RPCs.
The reusable advocacy group RPA said a “thorough examination of the methodology” used in the Arkansas study is necessary.
“In addition, laboratory testing of this nature often fails to replicate results once the methods are exposed to real world conditions related to the cleaning, sanitation and use of RPCs,” according to a BPA press release.
The BPA notes that reusable plastic containers undergo a complete sanitizing and cleaning process after each use and have not been associated with a foodborne illness since their introduction to the marketplace 25 years ago.
“Because our industry takes food safety seriously, and because we are committed to a culture of continuous improvement, we monitor the complete body of research on container safety to ensure we will continue to provide our customers with safe products,” RPA said “However, it is important to note that many of the recent studies on RPC safety have been funded and/or promoted by the cardboard container industry in an attempt to cast doubt on RPC safety for competitive advantage.”
RPA has issued a set of guidelines and best practices for the safe use of RPCs in food supply chains. The guidelines cover washing, handling, storing, packing, displaying and collection of RPCs and include defined Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and standards for hourly, daily, monthly and quarterly microbiological testing of containers.
The standards are the work of a food safety working group that included retailers, grower shippers, manufacturers, industry associations and RPC providers formed by BPA in 2014. The guidelines combine common knowledge, best practices and science and surpass industry regulations, according to BPA. Guidelines are provided for growers, retailers, adhesive labels and RPC providers.
