In June, the EWG sent a letter to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration urging that plastic pallets using the fire retardant decabromodiphenyl ether (Deca) be banned, saying it believes that the neurotoxin could be migrating into food during the process of hydro cooling.

In a rebuttal letter issued to the Australian Financial Review, which publicized the EWG’s claims, iGPS rejected the allegations, claiming that it offers the world’s most advanced and safest pallet.

“On June 24, 2009, iGPS received confirmation that its pallet passed the pre-certification testing requirements under NSF/ANSI 51-2009 for use in food preparation splash zones, further confirming its safety in conjunction with food,” iGPS told FoodProductionDaily.com. “In addition, independent testing of our pallet has documented no detectable transfer of decabromine to foods—or even to food packaging—when shipped on the iGPS pallet.”

Responding to charges that Deca was carcinogenic, iGPS said: “No authoritative governmental public health, environmental or regulatory agency in the world classifies decabromine as a known or suspected carcinogen.”