As you may have guessed, storage temperature is the temperature at which a product is stored. In terms of cold chain products and the cold supply chain, maintaining the correct storage temperature is critical.
Cold chain products must be stored within the recommended and regulated temperature ranges throughout the entire cold supply chain. This is not an easy feat with all the temperature variations the products may experience. Because of this, companies who produce, package, move, distribute, and sell cold chain products must understand and use the latest cold chain technologies and packaging to keep their products within the correct temperature ranges.
According to Cold Chain Tech, along with controlling the storage temperature, companies must have the tools to monitor the humidity, product environment, air pressure, flow and quality, light exposure, and shocks and impacts on packages and parcels.
What are the Cold Chain Product Storage Temperature Ranges?
This is dependent on the type of cold chain product. The temperature ranges vary from -18.4oF (-28oC) to 57.2oF (14oC). Here is a closer look and breakdown of temperature ranges by product type...
- Deep freeze: -18.4 to -22oF (-28 to -30oC) for seafood and some meat.
- Frozen: 3.1 to -4oF (-16 to -20oC) for meat and some produce.
- Chilled: 35.6 to 39.2oF (2 to 4oC) for some dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and fresh meat.
- Pharmacy: 35.6 to 46.4oF (2 to 8oC) for pharmaceutical products including vaccines and medication.
- Cold chain: 53.6 to 57.2oF (12 to 14oC) for processed food, over-the-counter medications, pharmaceutical products, and fresh produce.
The term cold chain technically means any product that needs to be stored within a specific temperature range. Here is a list of cold chain product examples from Cold Chain Tech...
- Vaccines including the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
- Medical products including blood, biologics, insulin, and other medical devices.
- Wine requires consistent cool storage temperatures to prevent premature aging and loss of flavor.
- Frozen desserts including ice cream and gelato need to be kept frozen to prevent bacterial growth, crystallization, and loss of flavor.
- Perishable meat, seafood, and poultry are highly susceptible to bacterial growth when it is not kept below 40 degrees F or frozen at 0 degrees F.
- Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables are at risk of skin damage, bacterial growth, flavor loss, bruising, and more when cold chain temperatures are not maintained.
- Milk, milk alternatives, and dairy products including yogurt, oat milk, soy products, and fermented dairy all require cold chain management. As an example, milk must be processed, packaged, transported, and stored at below 45 degrees F to prevent bacterial growth.
- Flowers and plants including cut flowers, bulbs, seeds, seedlings, and potted plants and flowers require consistent storage temperatures throughout the cold supply chain. Maintaining the correct storage temperature, monitoring humidity, and air pressure levels, and packaging these products correctly is essential to the color, health, disease prevention, and longevity of floral products.
The industries using cold chain management processes to protect and maintain their cold chain products include:
- Food and beverage
- Oil and gas
- Chemical
- Medical
- Military
- Hospitality
- Retail
At Genemco, our focus is on providing cost-effective food processing and refrigeration equipment to customers around the world. We are a purchaser and reseller of quality preowned equipment with integrity and safety at the forefront of what we do. We aim to build trust and lasting relationships in an otherwise touch-and-go secondhand industry and are proud of our 30+ years of satisfied customers around the globe.
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