Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS) has called for a national sanitary standard on the pallet industry to curb the threat of contamination to the US food supply chain.
iGPS chairman and CEO Bob Moore said it is imperative that Congress requires all pallets meet minimum sanitary standards, many of which are already acknowledged by the wood pallet industry.
The pallet rental service provider's comments came after a report by the Produce Safety Project, which showed that food-borne illness annually costs the nation $152bn.
The report also said that wooden pallets harbour dangerous levels of bacteria and deadly pathogens including Salmonella, E. Coli, and Listeria.
The study showed that in New Orleans 43% of wood pallets tested positive for E. coli, Listeria and/or Salmonella.
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