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Food Safety: Corrugated packaging vs. reusable plastic containers (Part 1 of 2) By Stephanie DeCamp hen it comes to the prepared food a commissary ships out, it's not only the packaging directly holding it that should raise concerns about food safety and foodborne illness, but also the packaging that ships the bulk of the product to its end retailer. While the reusable aspect of plastic containers sounds more efficient and sustainable, cardboard is cheaper, and a study done in February by NSF International (and sponsored by the Corrugated Packaging Alliance) says cardboard is actually more likely to be the most sanitary. Most commissaries consider it a choice between either using reusable plastic containers (RPCs) or single-use corrugated packaging, also known as cardboard. This month, Commissary Insider is digging into cardboard's side of the issue. Be sure to follow up next month, when we'll be exploring what purveyors of RPCs have to say about it. The study concluded that the typical manufacturing process of cardboard brings it to a sufficient temperature (180 - 200°) over an ample amount of time (nine seconds) to destroy the bacteria of common food pathogens. W The packaging was contaminated with multiple thermotolerant pathogens in the study, including E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella, and after being heated, showed the number of organisms present decreased by 100,000-fold on the liner surface. "Finished product and field testing of the containers has shown that when delivered to customers, they are clean and meet acceptance criteria for food contact applications," says Maryann Sanders, the director of the NSF study, and senior regulatory specialist and microbiologist at Haley & Aldrich Inc. "Based on similar field testing with reusable plastic containers, the best choice to mitigate potential microbial contamination for food contact would be singleuse corrugated containers." This is largely because RPCs rely on people to sanitize them between uses, and so far there's no standardized way to do so. The making and remaking of cardboard, however, is automated, and since every box is only used once before being recycled and reformed into a new one, they always reach proper temperatures for sanitation. "It seems, based on the test results, that the sanitation processes used by the facilities are insufficient and are variable," she says. "We would find some RPCs that were very clean, and others that had very high levels - up to a million organisms per sample." Rachel Kenyon, a representative of the CPA and vice president of the Fibre Box Association, also acknowledges the safety of RPCs so far, and that no illnesses have been traced back to the containers as of yet, she says. PHOTO: THE EHRHARDT GROUP 6 * JULY 2016 * commissary INSIDER Improper cleaning is a food safety concern, but it's also a monetary concern when it comes to spoilage subtracting from your bottom line. And according to a 2015 study done by the FBA, total packaging, shipping and handling costs for a company using cardboard are 10.4 percent lower than when using reusable plastic. As for sustainability, RPCs may not require trees to be cut down for production, but Kenyon says cardboard reached a record high in recycling of 92.9 percent in 2015, and that the average new box is 50 percent recycled content.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of instore - July 2016

TARGET AUDIENCE More on millennials
ON OUR RADAR
BY THE NUMBERS Cupcakes
Millennial mindset
The end of Big Food?
commissary INSIDER - July 2016
Insight Insider: Mrs. Gerry’s builds room to grow
Yes, there is a Mrs. Gerry
Food Safety: Corrugated packaging vs. reusable plastic containers (Part 1 of 2)
Equipment: Flexibility with depositors
Product Category Spotlight: Cooked, cured meats
Technology: High pressure pasteurization
Research and development: Hard-boiled eggs: the next big thing for graband- go snacking
NEED TO KNOW Malt & molasses
CONSIDER Trending cheese flavors
LATEST INNOVATION Labor savers
ON DISPLAY Grab-and-go lunch
FIRST TO MARKET
product showcase
AD INDEX

instore - July 2016