There is a
huge and ongoing fight for the container market for fruits and vegetables,
reports Ann Hui of the Globe and Mail.
The
cardboard and plastic manufacturers have both lined up experts to defend their
products.
But the
plastic side is on the defensive after food safety experts have prepared
reports saying they pose a risk.
Farmers
are caught in the middle, trying hard not to offend retailers who favour one
over the other.
Keith
Warriner, a University of Guelph professor, released a study late last month
that raises concerns about the hygiene of boxes made out of plastic, reports
Hui.
Until
the past decade, cardboard led, but five years ago Loblaws Cos. asked its
suppliers to use plastic because they can be reused.
“Each
year, by using these reusable crates, we keep millions of wax-corrugate boxes
out of landfill,” Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas told Hui.
In 2013,
the Canadian Corrugated Containerboard Association funded Dr. Warriner to study
the plastic crates.
His
second study in 2014 found crates were being managed with “unacceptable
sanitary standards,” and the plastic industry vowed to make improvements.
IFCO,
one of the world’s largest manufacturers of recycled crates, opened a location
in Guelph so that the crates would no longer have to travel to the United
States for cleaning.
But in
his study released last month, Dr. Warriner again found cause for concern.
Using a
pass or fail measure, he found a majority of samples (between 83 per cent and
100 per cent of 144 units tested) failed based on total aerobic count, which
indicates the presence of bacteria.
In four
per cent of the random samples taken, tests showed the presence of E. coli. He
also raised caution about the possibility of plant pathogens transmitting from
one region to another.
Warriner
said that despite improvements, “the method they have for sanitizing the crates
is ineffective.”
An IFCO
spokesperson said it has spent more than $125-million over the past five years
improving its sanitation procedures, and added that the company’s crates have
never led to any incidents of food-borne illness.
A
spokesperson for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency told Hui she is unaware of
any food-safety incidents related to the plastic crates.
And
Loblaws said the company has also worked closely with manufacturers to improve
sanitation, including new wash stations.
The
plastic industry hired Franklin Associates whose study found that plastic
containers generate 31 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions and 85 per cent
less solid waste than cardboard.
