Bulk Ingredient Transfer in Food and Drug Processing

Companies that handle raw ingredients in food or pharmaceutical manufacturing must adhere to a variety of federally mandated safety regulations to protect American consumers from harm.

For facilities preparing and handling foods, sanitization and hygiene are critically important to minimize the presence of food borne microbial organisms, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella and Shigella—pathogens that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates cause 48 million Americans to get sick annually. For drug manufacturers, the purity of their ingredients must be verifiably protected.

From supplier to processor, bulk ingredients for food and pharmaceutical products are shipped and handled almost exclusively on wood pallets by forklifts, due to their weight and volume. When the ingredients are needed for use in production, however, the wood pallets have to be removed.

There is a trend for processors to utilize both wooden and plastic pallets. The rule of thumb is that anything moving into the production area is moved on a plastic pallet. A plastic pallet can be cleaned and sanitized, and it eliminates the potential contamination from wood and metal (nails or staples) in a production area.