Honey and olive oil do not need cold because of bacterial spoilage; in transport the problem is heat and light. In olive oil, heat and light speed up oxidation along with oxygen, and a lot left for hours in a closed cargo area in summer sun loses quality. In honey, glucose crystallises spontaneously at room temperature, and the EU Honey Directive does not treat that as a fault: consistency may be fluid, viscous or partly to entirely crystallised. Reheating crystallised honey quickly to make it flow harms the enzymes, though, and the directive does not allow heating that destroys or significantly inactivates the natural enzymes.
| Product | What harms it | To record in shipment |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | Heat, light, oxygen | Lot number, peak temperature, dark packaging |
| Honey | Reheating to flow | Lot number, temperature history |
An insulated container does not chill the product; it cuts the peaks of outside temperature. The warehouse belongs in the same record, since the product spends hours in transport and far longer in storage.
