the first corrugated box was produced in the united states in 1895. today, it&rsquos estimated that 90 percent of all products manufactured in the u.s. ship in a corrugated box sometime during their life cycle from manufacturer to end user. yet, we tend to take the corrugated box for granted. it&rsquos costeffective, protective, easily shipped, has retail appeal, is sustainable and clean.denniscolleydennis colleyin the produce industry, it&rsquos this last attribute that has gained recent attention. for growers, shippers and packers, food safety is essential and always top of mind, but what about the cleanliness of containers used to ship produce the corrugated industry works hard to deliver containers that are free of foreign contamination to their customers. but there&rsquos another component of clean not seen by the naked eye called bacteria. is bacteria present on the inside surfaces of boxesto answer these questions, the corrugated industry recently commissioned thirdparty testing and analysis conducted by the university of californiadavis and toxicology experts haley & aldrich that confirmed 100 percent of tested corrugated containers met acceptable sanitation levels.experts examined 720 swab samples taken from containers produced by six different corrugated manufacturers at growershipper locations in three different u.s. regions the northwest, california and florida.samples were tested using the cleanliness threshold of 1,000 colony forming units as defined by keith warriner from the university of guelph, the food safety authority of ireland and the new south wales food authority. the u.s. food & drug administration does not have guidelines for packaging bacterial levels.one hundred percent of the evaluated samples were below 1,000 cfu per swab, confirming that corrugated containers provided for food packaging meet acceptable sanitation criteria at the point of use.typical corrugated manufacturing practices are responsible for the low levels of bacteria. corrugated containers are engineered for singleuse specifically for the product they contain. they&rsquore designed to cushion and protect products and at the same time optimize fiber usage and reduce weight and air shipped leading to fewer loads. after use, there&rsquos nothing to wash. the corrugated box is returned to the paper mill where the recycling process greatly reduces bacterial loading.nearly 90 percent of corrugated shipping containers produced in the u.s. are recovered for recycling through strong commercial and residential collection programs. most retailers have backroom balers used to bale corrugated that is then sold to generate revenue and improve store profitability.this continuous cycle of using boxes, recycling them and then creating new boxes not only translates into package cleanliness, it also contributes to the sustainability of the corrugated industry.the corrugated industry has a long history of responsible environmental stewardship. like produce growers and shippers, paper and paperbased packaging manufacturers recognize a responsibility to the land that supports their crop. corrugated containers are made from a renewable resource trees. today, onethird of the u.s. land mass, 751 million acres, is forestland with 504 million acres classified as timberlands. that&rsquos more trees today than when the first u.s. earth day was celebrated more than 40 years ago. in addition, 3.2 million seedlings are planted each day &mdash 1.2 billion a year. trees absorb carbon dioxide and offset 10 percent of our nation&rsquos emissions.further, the corrugated industry remains committed to improving its overall footprint. the first ever industrywide life cycle assessment was published in 2010 with an update last summer showing reductions in 10 impact categories, including a 32 percent reduction in global warming potential.all of this, along with a lot of innovation along the way, contribute to making corrugated boxes unsung heroes.in partnership with produce growers, shippers and packers, corrugated manufacturers will continue to seek optimal performance in the delivery of produce from field to table. this week&rsquos corrugated study results are the latest example of the corrugated industry&rsquos commitment to deliver packaging that meets acceptable sanitation levels to contain, protect and transport produce.for more information about the corrugated industry, visit corrugated.org.dennis colley is executive director of the corrugated packaging alliance cpa, a corrugated industry initiative sponsored by the american forest & paper association, aicc &ndash the independent packaging association, the fibre box association and the technical association of the pulp and paper industry. its mission is to foster growth and profitability of corrugated in applications where it can be demonstrated, based on credible and persuasive evidence, that corrugated should be the packaging material of choice. 
