What we have written on the cold chain126 / 154

Do not attribute high energy use to panel joints alone. Review installation drawings, field findings and possible air leakage.

Staling is mainly starch recrystallising rather than drying, and it speeds up as temperature falls. That is why daily bread is not moved cold, while filled products that need cold travel in a separate volume.

A single sensor in a body reads colder than reality in front of the discharge and warmer beside the door. The point that reflects the product's real state is where the air is refreshed most slowly.

Record waiting conditions and product temperature at each handoff, then plan the next cooling step from the measurements.

In cold-pressed juice without heat treatment, shelf life rests on a 5-log process proof and an unbroken cold chain from press to delivery. A worked example shows the pre-cooling load and plate count for 15 litres.

The names can describe the same thing while the products differ greatly. What separates them is not the name but three features: body material, tray standard and how many uses it is built for.

There is no universal minute interval. Trial and validate the setting against product needs, door events and logger capacity.

Bring lot identity, product instructions, packaging condition and measurements together in one receipt record.

Check contact risk between product and plate, load layout and sensor position. Do not generalize one arrangement to different products.

A break opens two separate accounts: the regulatory duty under food law and the commercial outcome under the contract with the buyer. In both, the record of the product's temperature history decides.

Write down handoff conditions between grower, broker, and buyer, and keep measurement and waiting records at each stage.

In a frozen store, time and breaks come from the risk assessment; ACGIH recommends a warm-up regime at -7 °C and below and constant observation at -12 °C and below.