What should you do if an ice pack breaks in transit?

When an ice pack breaks, cooling capacity falls and the filling may have touched the goods. Pack, contacted goods and clean goods are separated, and temperature history and contact are judged as separate decisions.

28 April 2026Updated 28 September 2026

Short answer

First record the leak and keep the pack, the contacted goods and the clean goods apart. The filling varies by product, so it is identified from the label and safety data sheet (SDS); adding a new pack settles neither the temperature history nor the contact decision. Acceptance of the goods follows a review of the temperature record and the contact together.

When a pack breaks, two events happen together: cooling capacity falls and the filling may have touched the goods. The filling varies by product, and instant cold packs use, for example, calcium ammonium nitrate, so it is identified from the label and SDS, not guessed.

At delivery the external leakage, time and temperature indication are recorded before the box is opened; once it is opened in a safe area, the position of the broken pack and the contacted goods are photographed. Appearance or feeling cold by hand is no reason to accept. The root cause is traced too: trapping against a sharp corner, top load, freezer adhesion or ageing. A damaged pack does not return to the pool and does not go into general waste before its contents are known.