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Plastic can be fantastic for hygienic pallets

28 July 2023

Plastic pallets, pallet boxes and crates are playing an increasingly important role across the complex food distribution network, where producers need to adhere to strict food handling and storage standards to ensure food is stored and shipped in the right conditions.

Where plastic pallets are concerned, a fully closed deck offers the most hygienic option for distributing and storing fresh produce and meat. Hygienic pallets should be designed with smooth closed surfaces that are easy to sterilise, while there are no dirt traps to retain any liquids or residual food.

In order to meet relevant safety standards, food manufacturers should use pallets and pallet boxes made from virgin grade plastic if they are coming into direct contact with a food product. This is because even though the plastic recycling process uses very high temperatures to convert and process plastic, there is still a consensus that the origin of plastic should be 100% traceable. Once the food is packaged and doesn’t come into direct contact with the container, then crates and pallets made from recycled plastic are fine – and can boost a manufacturer’s green credentials.

Many hygienic pallets, pallet boxes and crates are blue in colour. This is simply because there are only a few blue foods, making it easier to notice if any pieces from damaged pallets has contaminated a food product. Food crates do, however, come in other colours, and these are often used to colour-code different types of produce. Generally, red indicates scrap food that is not fit for human consumption, for example.

Durable solution
Pallets and pallet boxes need to be durable for handling purposes. Take, for example, a pallet box full of potatoes. The large storage container used in harvesting must be able to withstand very heavy weights, as well as knocks, which are inevitable when being mechanically handled during the sorting and packaging process.

A Belgian manufacturer of handling equipment, Deprez has developed an automated handling system for the potato industry, utilising GoPalletBox 1311S 3R Blue. These plastic pallet boxes, supplied by Goplasticpallets, have a capacity of 1,400 litres and are made of impact-resistant, chemical-resistant and food-safe HDPE. Commenting on the initiative, Johan Deprez, founder and CEO of Deprez, said: “Our solution would simply not exist in this form without the plastic pallet box. Now, whenever we plan an automated solution for a new customer, we recommend it.”


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