Food contact crates and bins: what to ask

The four questions

For a new container bought from the maker, the first two carry most of the weight. For a used one, the last two can outweigh everything printed on a spec sheet.

• Resin. What plastic, and was this unit molded from virgin or recycled material?
• Maker's statement. What does the maker say, in writing, about the material for this part number?
• Prior contents. What went in it before you? Produce, raw meat, engine parts, coolant-wet stampings or chemicals are very different histories.
• Cleaning. Was it washed, by whom, how, and how long ago?

Resin is a start, not an answer

Most crates and bulk containers are high-density polyethylene or polypropylene. ORBIS describes its straight-wall totes as HDPE and PP construction and lists structural-foam molded HDPE for its HDR4845-34 BulkPak; Buckhorn lists injection-molded HDPE for its straight-wall and attached-lid containers; IPL Schoeller makes its VDA KLT boxes and Magnum Optimum folding container from PP.

Knowing the resin family is not the same as knowing the material is suitable. Colorants, additives and recycled content all vary by order. IPL Schoeller's MacroBin 29 page says the bin is offered with recycled content on request, which means two bins with one model name may be molded from different material. That is why the question is about the unit, not the catalog.

What makers actually say, word for word

Here is the exact wording we found on maker pages. Read the verbs closely: "available in" and "made from" promise different things.

Reading between the verbs

Every one of those statements describes new product leaving the maker, or a pool's own wash. None follows a container into a second owner's hands. Once a box has carried something else and been stored by someone else, the maker's words describe how it started, not where it has been.

Watch for silence and contradiction too. IPL Schoeller describes its PreLog CMB 400x300 box as a foldable container for non-food uses, inside a range it otherwise calls food approved. We have also seen a single product page say "FDA approved" in a bullet and "available on request" in the description below it; the same maker says elsewhere to confirm food-contact use before ordering. When a page disagrees with itself, ask the maker for a written statement for that part number and material.

Lids, liners, dividers and temperature

The box is not the only surface. Lids, divider sets and liners touch product too, and they often come from a different supplier than the container. ORBIS builds custom divider sets from plastic corrugated (PCORR) or solid plastic sheet; ask what those sheets are made of as well. Many processors sidestep the question for dry goods with a disposable bag liner, which changes what touches the food but not what the box carried before.

Temperature belongs on the list because ratings and statements are written for a range. Buckhorn lists its stack & nest containers for use at -20 to 120 F. IPL Schoeller's KLT page gives two ranges that don't agree, -20 to +100 C in the text and -4 F to 104 F on the spec line. If the crate goes through a blast freezer or a hot wash, quote the range with its source and confirm it with the maker.

Prior contents and cleaning on used lots

Used containers come out of every trade. A collapsible that carried stamped brackets in an auto plant may have spent years catching cutting oil. A tote retired from a poultry line had raw product in it daily. A macro bin from an orchard held fruit and field soil. All three can look alike after a pressure wash.

When we quote a used lot, we ask the seller what it held and pass on exactly what we're told, including "unknown" when that's the answer. We describe whether a lot was washed and by whom if we know. We do not describe any lot as sanitized, food-safe or fit for contact; your plant's own cleaning and approval process decides that. For produce and processing work, see our notes for food processing and meat and poultry buyers.

What to send the maker, and us

If you need paperwork from the maker for direct contact with exposed food, a new container ordered in the stated material is usually the clean route. We can quote it on new containers; for used lots, put what the crate will hold on the quote form and we'll tell you what we know of its past.

• The exact model number molded into the wall, and the mold date if visible.
• Whether the unit was ordered in a food-contact material, and the maker's written statement for it.
• Whether it contains recycled resin.
• Its temperature use: frozen, chilled, ambient or hot wash.
• What it held before and how it was cleaned, for a used lot.
• What it will hold now: whole produce, packaged goods, or exposed product.