Form:DIGITAL JOURNAL By Karen Graham

The Reusable Packaging Association has responded to a number of reports critical of the safety of plastic shipping containers used to transport fruit and vegetables to markets. On March 10, the RPA issued new science-based protocols.

Reusable plastic containers replace cardboard and wood containers and pallets to help customers reduce material handling costs and improve supply chain efficiency.

Katie Kilfoyle Remis, the communications director for the Virginia-based Reusable Packaging Association (RPA) contacted this writer two weeks ago in response to a story printed in Digital Journal on Feb. 25. In discussing the article entitled, Reusable plastic produce containers are dangerous to your health, I learned the RPA was about to issue new food-safety protocols.

The RPA's response to critics was the issuance of science-based comprehensive guidelines on March 10. The guidelines cover the washing, handling, storing, packing, displaying, and collecting of Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) in the supply chain.

Also included are well defined Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) that include hourly, daily, monthly, and quarterly microbiological testing. Over the course of a year, the RPA received input from stakeholders at companies such as the United Fresh Produce Association, WalMart, and others before finalizing the guidelines.

Digital Journal spoke with Jerry Welcome, President of RPA on Friday. He reiterated again, that there has never been a documented food safety issue associated with the use of RPCs. Welcome explained that the guidelines assured that " best practices and industry regulations are met or exceeded. He added, "The RPA's protocols meet FDA requirements for food safety and even exceed those guidelines."

Digital Journal asked Mr. Welcome how they knew their guidelines were being met. Welcome explained the route a plastic produce container follows. He said,"We have an open-loop system. The bulk of supplier's deliver the containers to the farmer. They are then filled with produce and sent to a center for a cooling period before being wrapped, labeled and shipped to the customer. After they have been used, they are sent to the service centers for cleaning."

"In this open-loop system, used containers are returned to the supplier's service centers for cleaning and sanitizing," said Welcome. He added, not all containers are handled in this manner, because "some of the RPCs are owned by individual companies in a "closed-loop system. But the bulk of RPCs are in the open-loop system."

Mr. Welcome stated, "The RPC industry believes food safety is not a competitive issue. Food safety is something we take very seriously, and by continually monitoring the research on food container safety, we are fulfilling our commitment in providing consumers with safe products." Welcome added that "hundreds of thousands of dollars have gone into the service center's cleaning and sanitizing operations."

In discussing the recent University of Arkansas study, Welcome suggested the report was "more a political statement." Issuing a press release in response to the study, RPA said the study should be "met with extreme caution," pointing out that "recent studies have been funded and/or promoted by the cardboard container industry."

Most consumers really don't think about what goes into cleaning and sanitizing the RPCs. But when used RPCs are returned to service centers for cleaning and sanitizing, they go through a rigorous system where detergents and sanitizers are digitally dosed and controlled. Under the new guidelines, quality control, systems check logs, titration logs, surface swab tests, and process validation will all go toward added monitoring of the cleanliness and safety of the containers.

The whole point in the creation of the comprehensive guidelines was to get everyone on the same page in the cleaning and sanitation process. The RPA has in effect, created a more clear-cut, but comprehensive protocol for the reusable plastic container industry that assures the safety of our food.