use wood trays that are held together by screws and use screening ma-
terial similar to what is used for home screen doors. Loose screws and
frayed screening pose obvious issues, and wood is known to harbor mi-
crobes. In fact, in an ABC News segment aired earlier this year, “Pallet
Wars: Wood vs. Plastic for Food Safety,” researchers found that as
many as 43 percent of the wood pallets in one study contained E. coli,
Salmonella and Listeria. The fact is that a dirty plastic pallet probably
contains about the same amount of microbes, but that plastic pallet
can be cleaned much easier
and may not break as easily
as the wood pallet. Realisti-
cally, replacing all the wood
pallets in a facility will never
happen, but using only slip-
sheeted pallets for storage
and keeping wood pallets
out of standing water will go
a long way to mitigate mi-
crobiological problems.
With the produce drying
facility, plastic was not an option because it would melt, yet the cost of
switching from wooden drying trays to stainless steel was overwhelm-
ing. However, everyone needed to step up and realize that it costs
money to be compliant and this was not one of the issues where com-
promise was possible. To solve this issue, one import buyer worked
with the facility management to negotiate a very modest price increase
to cover the cost of replacing a few wood trays with stainless trays each
month. There was a clear understanding that all of the wood trays
would be eliminated from the operation sooner than later. As the
wood trays were being replaced by stainless steel, the remaining wood
trays were examined and their condition documented before each use
(after the stainless tray inventory was exhausted). By assigning ac-
countability for documenting the condition of the wood trays, the risk
of contamination was greatly reduced and the management was satis-
fied with the solution.
Be Enlightened on Your Lighting. First, all lights within a food processing facility should be enclosed in plastic in case one breaks. Glass
shards and other contaminants such as mercury from lighting systems
can cause huge problems. Also, look at where spare bulbs are stored.
In one facility, a supply of the mercury-filled lights was stored in an uncontrolled area of the production plant, sitting precariously on empty
jute bags that would eventually be used for shipping the product to
the importer.
Keep Up on Ladder Sanitation. Look at the extension ladders that
are used in every facility. Invariably, they are dirty. Most have never
been cleaned since they were brought into the plant and the ladders
are used throughout the plant. The problem with ladders, regardless
of size, is that most people will climb a ladder by placing their hands
on the steps—the very steps where dirty shoes have been previously.
Every ladder needs to be assigned a stenciled number and be on a
master sanitation list.
Additionally, the facility has to have a contractor ladder and shoe
“Researchers found that as many as 43 percent of the
wood pallets in one study contained E. coli, Salmonella
and Listeria.”
policy that requires contractors to
have their ladders cleaned and sanitized by plant personnel before bringing them into the facility or to use a
clean and sanitized ladder provided
by the facility. Contractor shoes need
to be at least cleaned (and hopefully
sanitized) before they have access inside any facility. I have personally seen
contractors enter facilities with ladders that had clearly been used on
dairy farms, based on the debris clinging to their ladders and shoes.
Make Sure Chilling Units Are Not
Hotbeds for Contamination. Another
item to never overlook is the chill box
and any condensate collection pan associated with it. The condensate collection pan in a chilling unit will be
one of the single largest reservoirs for
Listeria any food operation will have.
Most collection pans are not pitched
correctly, allowing the water to pool
and become stagnant. Then microbes
are spread throughout the atmosphere of the facility by fans. Regardless of whether the unit is properly
pitched or not, inspect the drain line
to ensure that it is being properly
routed to a drain and not sitting on
the floor behind the chill boxes. The
condensate drip pan is another good
area to place either a quat ring or
powdered sanitizer once the pan has
been taken down, cleaned and sanitized. A water sample from the drain
line will be helpful in assessing if
Listeria is a problem and a visual examination of the back of the cooling unit
The condensate collection pan in a chilling
unit will be one of the single largest
reservoirs for Listeriaany food operation
will have.
