Ensuring Food Safety with Wooden Pallets

Transporting and storing food products involves careful adherence to important regulations to ensure safety for your customers, employees, and your company’s reputation. At FALM, we emphasize that properly maintained wooden pallets are essential for meeting these standards.

Proper Care of Wooden Pallets

The most reliable wooden pallets for food transport and storage are kiln-dried, which helps avoid mold by thoroughly drying the wood. These pallets typically bear the “KD” code, indicating they’ve undergone a kiln dry process. The heat treat process effectively kills pests, bacteria, microbes, and other potentially harmful organisms, marked with the “HT” code. Clean and dry wooden pallets rarely harbor pathogens and are resilient in both cold and hot environments—as long as conditions remain dry. Always inspect pallets regularly to ensure they are free from protruding nails or splinters that could compromise your products.

Best Practices for Choosing Used Pallets

Used wooden pallets can be an economical and effective solution if carefully selected. Ensure they comply with the FDA and Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) guidelines, emphasizing cleanliness, dryness, and structural integrity. Specifically, avoid pallets marked with “MB,” which signifies past exposure to methyl bromide, a harmful chemical contaminant that could impact food safety.

Compliance with Laws and Regulations

The FDA mandates stringent regulations for anyone involved in the manufacture, processing, or packaging of food products. Compliance includes meticulous tracking of lot numbers, codes, and other identifiers, as outlined in Title 21 of the FDA’s Code of Federal Regulations. Additionally, under FSMA regulations, pallets that contact food must remain consistently clean, dry, structurally sound, and free from contamination. Proper documentation linking pallets to specific food lots and end customers is crucial. At First Alliance Logistics Management (FALM), we provide quality used wooden pallets that meet these strict standards, offering reliability at an affordable price. Partner with us to ensure your storage and transportation solutions consistently uphold the highest standards of food safety.

For more information or to find suitable pallets for your needs, contact us today.