A cold chain break is when a temperature-sensitive product leaves its permitted range. The chain usually breaks not while the vehicle is moving but at the handovers: on the ramp, at the door, at the final drop. So every handover gets an owner, a measuring point and a waiting limit.
| Point | What happens | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Ramp | Goods sit in the heat until loaded | Load in a cold area, waiting time recorded |
| Door or lid | Warm air enters at every opening | Route built around delivery order |
| Container not pre-cooled | The plate first cools the container body | Container at target before loading |
| Half-frozen plate | Absorbs less heat than expected | Plate frozen through |
GEBHARDT's preparation values
GEBHARDT gives the pre-cooling temperature for the Isotec insulated container as 0 to 2 °C for fresh goods and -21 to -25 °C for deep-frozen goods, and recommends 12-20 hours of pre-cooling. A eutectic plate is frozen at least 5 °C below its melting point; a -21 °C plate takes about 19 hours at -26 °C. With the external thermometer accessory the inside temperature is read without opening the lid.
Frozen and fresh goods travel on the same vehicle in separate containers, each holding its own temperature inside. At a stop only that delivery's container is opened, not the whole body.
If a break happens, time, value, device and measuring point are recorded and the affected lot is set aside. FAO's HACCP guidance treats restoring control of the process and deciding what happens to the product as separate steps; cooling the load again does not release it. For documenting lid openings and the temperature profile, GEBHARDT points to the 4smartlogistics monitoring solution.
International transport falls under the ATP agreement. Türkiye became a party in 2012, and national ATP certification began in 2017.
