FREIGHT CLAIMS - TRANSPORTING FOOD WITH CHEMICALS
Question #1: If a pallet of honey is shipped via less-then-truckload ("LTL") carrier does the bill of lading have to state that it cannot be shipped with anything hazardous, such as a pesticide? Or is the description "Honey" on the bill of lading enough so that the carrier should not have put this on a trailer with pesticides?

Question #2: I know I have read something on my question along my journey, but i am being asked and can't find the answer to whether or not it is legal to mix food grade products with chemicals in the same trailer.

We had a shipment of break making compounds in boxes stretch wrapped in the same trailer with chemicals in drums and a product "Nutella". The customer refused the shipment because of possible contamination. I told our people it was a legal shipment as long as both products were in specified packaging and not stacked or placed next to each other in the same trailer. Am I right or wrong?

Answer: I assume that you do not have a formal transportation contract with your motor carriers. When we prepare contracts for shippers of food or food-related products we always include provisions that prevent the carrier from transporting the product in the same truck with hazardous or other materials that might contaminate the product.

There are some federal regulations that prohibit the transportation of foodstuffs in the same vehicle with certain poisonous substances, but most common pesticides or chemicals would not be covered by these regulations, see 49 CFR Section 177.841 (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/177.841.)

While a carrier probably should not transport either honey or bread making compounds in the same trailer with pesticides or hazardous chemicals, unless they are listed in the regulations, it is not against the law. As for the "Nutella", it is not a "hazardous" material, and it does seem unreasonable that a shipment might be rejected because of some questionable concern about allergy to hazelnuts.