Food compatibility of wooden packaging materials

Wood, an ancient material, is still used today as a packaging material and in the manufacture of objects intended to come into contact with food products.

In the agri-food sector, wood is used in the composition of objects designed for handling food products, such as cutting boards and kitchen utensils (cutlery, dishes, etc.).

It is used in the manufacture of "light" packaging, but more rarely in "heavy" packaging.

Lightweight packaging is :

• crates used for fruit and vegetables;

• seafood baskets (fish and seafood);

• or cheese boxes.

Heavy packaging includes :

• CASES ;

• PALLOX;

• pallets used to store and transport certain bulk fruits.

In all three cases, the wood is used for presentation, handling, storage or transport, and must not release substances likely to modify the contents (guaranteeing organoleptic and chemical inertness, and not being a vector for undesirable micro-organisms).

When used as a raw material in the manufacture of barrels for maturing wine, sheaves for sowing milk prior to cheese production, or maturing boards for certain cheeses, wood influences the organoleptic or microbiological characteristics of the final product, resulting from exchanges between the wood and the food product in contact.

With the exception of the wine industry, wood is subject to competition from plastic and cardboard packaging, due in particular to the very detailed and up-to-date regulations governing these two materials over the last thirty years. Indeed, the regulations governing wood in contact with food, and therefore its suitability for food contact, are poorly identified, hence the importance of taking stock of the food suitability of wood.