Pallets Tested Positive for Food Poisoning Bacteria

Wood pallets used to ship food in Portland, Maine and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have been tested positive for poisonous bacteria that cause health hazards.

The tests commissioned by pallet rental service provider Intelligent Global Pooling Systems have found Listeria and abnormally high counts of bacteria.

In Portland, five of 30 pallets have been tested positive for Listeria while three of the five pallets tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, which is the causative agent for Listeriosis.

Listeriosis is the leading cause of death among food-borne bacterial pathogens.

The two other pallets tested positive for Listeria carried the strains Seeligeri/Welshimeri and Seeligeri/Ivanouii.

Nearly half of the pallets tested in Maine had bacteria plate counts that exceeded 100,000 counts/gram.