To Our Valued Customers,

Recent news stories about a recall involving Tylenol products have raised questions about chemical content of pallets. To be clear, CHEP pallets were not involved in the Tylenol recall in any way, but the incident has brought to light the critical importance of rigorous testing and quality control processes for shipping platforms and the materials used in them.

As the provider of the world’s largest pool of reusable shipping pallets, CHEP has an obligation to design and maintain strict and comprehensive quality control procedures for our platforms, which are classified as tertiary packaging. We believe our processes meet the most exacting standards for control and assurance, for everything from raw material to pallet repair and recycling, and we invite our customers to evaluate these processes for themselves.

In order to help ensure pallet safety, the single most important step is to start with raw material that is free of harmful preservatives or other hazardous substances. Our raw material specification for lumber mandates that our pallet material is free of all hazardous substances and preservatives, and we control this process via frequent and regular audits of all our suppliers, conducted by an independent and highly qualified third party.

We use kiln drying to control for infestation and mold growth, and we do not use chemical preservatives and fumigation treatments like those referenced in the Tylenol case. Importantly, our wood pallets never need chemical flame retardants such as decabromine which is used in some plastic pallets.

Millions of plastic pallets are in use in the US today containing this toxic chemical that has been linked to serious health risks, despite the fact that the US makers of decabromine have agreed to phase out production under pressure from the US EPA. Recently legislation has been introduced to ban the use of products containing the substance, an important step in reducing the proliferation of decabromine in the food supply chain.

Whether the pallet is wood, plastic, or some other material, all pallets may be exposed to various chemicals and debris as they move through the supply chain, and therefore should be inspected after each use. As our pallets cycle through the supply chain and back to a CHEP service center, they are regularly inspected for visible contaminants. Once returned to one of our service centers, pallets or components that appear visibly contaminated are either washed, or disposed of in a safe and responsible manner. Our national network of service centers staffed by trained operators provides consistent and thorough inspection and repair processes.

At CHEP, we are proud of our nearly 20 year track record of performance in the US. While we remind our customers that pallets are tertiary packaging and never intended for direct food contact, we take great pride in delivering the safest and most reliable shipping platform available on the market today.

Should you have any questions about the safety or quality of our product, or would like to know more about our quality control processes, please contact your CHEP account manager, or send an email to our Customer Care Center at customer.care@chep.com.

Sincerely,