Storage conditions

Groceries and pharmaceuticals are especially sensitive to storage conditions. In case of frozen groceries and some pharmaceuticals (CRT), factors such as temperature and time have significant influence on preserving high quality and consumption usefulness (expire date), and what follows it – consumers’ safety. It should be remembered that expire date defines only the lifetime of a product when kept in ideal storage conditions. On the other hand, any exposure out of defined storage conditions has negative influence on quality of a product, which is difficult to define on the base of appearance and smell observed. Therefore, a hundred percent certainty of safety of a product can be ensured by constant monitoring of temperature and time changes, from the moment of production up to consumption. The only solution to the problem of constant monitoring of quality of a product is application of temperature indicator (TTI- time temperature indicator) directly on the product.

Factors having influence on lifetime of a product

A key-factor influencing the quality of groceries is a correlation of temperature in which the product is stored, together with the time in which this product is kept in a given temperature. It means that, the higher temperature in which the product is stored, the faster physical and biochemical processes which lower the product’s quality proceed e.g. the expire date placed on the packaging by the producer is most frequently given for the temperature -18˚C, (microbiological activity is suspended at this temperature) and yet storing it in -12˚C shortens the expire date up to 4 months, and storing in the temperature -6˚C up to 4 weeks. The complete defrosting of a product also depends on temperature and the time in which it is kept. Complete defrosting will occur much quicker at e.g. 20 ˚C than at 5˚C (size of a product also influences defrost time)

Visual relation between shelf life of a product and storage temperature

Remember:

Groceries and pharmaceuticals have strictly defined expire date- time of consumption usefulness - but only in defined storage conditions
After exceeding the defined storage conditions, expire date is significantly shorter
In case of extreme exceeding of storage conditions, the product should be consumed immediately or in some cases it is incapable to be consumed
Placing the product in proper storage conditions again will not return its quality and durability
In case of frozen products - once being defrosted are incapable of being frozen again

Quality of frozen products

The basic conditions of good quality of frozen food are: clean, healthy, high quality raw products, proper preliminary preparation, proper freezing and storage parameters, proper packaging. Generally, frozen food keeps quality when obeying accurate rules of Good Producing Practice. It should be remembered though that at low temperatures, during the time of cooling storage, physical, chemical and biochemical changes still occur but in slow rate, and by degrees they cause a decrease in quality of frozen products. The character of quality changes is specific for the given group of products and consolidation technology being used. The most important physical changes that occur in frozen products are changes in the structure of products which are shown as the loss of turgor, decrease in firmness, weakening of product’s consistence, and loss of mass due to evaporation and sublimation of vapor. Chemical and biochemical changes are created mainly due to enzymes, which can be the cause of complicated reactions. Nutritive value of frozen products is also worsen due to decrease of vitamin C, vitamin from group B and others. Preserving proper quality of frozen food depends on conditions of storage i.e. temperature and humidity of air. Humidity of air in low temperatures is set spontaneously according to general balance of warmth and humidity, in normal conditions it is set in the range of 95,98%. Temperature is a decisive parameter, which characterizes the run of physical processes, kinetics of chemical and biochemical reactions and life activity of microorganisms. The function of storage temperature is a durability of frozen products i.e. the time in which quality changes do not exceed the assumed range. Presently -18˚C and lower is a temperature which on an international scale is considered as the maximum temperature of long-term storage of groceries, deeply frozen in appropriate industrial devices. In modern cooling objects the temperature of - 30˚C is widely used, and recently even lower temperature has been used for products especially susceptible to quality changes(e.g. some fish species). Storage temperatures that ensure obtaining the required durability level of frozen food should be treated as optimum.

Invenview Technology

Invenview Technology allows to build cheap and easy to apply, intelligent label informing of a quality and lifetime of a product which it is applied to. COOLID indicator reacts to these changes in storage conditions, which the monitored product reacts to. Therefore, it gives clear and legible information, if the product has been exposed to decrease or loss of quality as the result of being kept in improper temperatures during particularly long time.

Using COOLID

Our technology allows for application of a simple indicator on a single pack or on a combined pack of such products as: frozen meat, frozen seafood, frozen ready made meals, frozen pizza, frozen ice-creams and desserts, frozen vegetables and fruit. Only constant monitoring of a product, from the moment of packaging and inserting an indicator on it at the producer’s up to unpackaging it at the customer’s ensures full safety and the highest quality of the offered product.

Adjusting to customers

Presently we are working on optimizing of the COOLID indicator to particular kinds of frozen products. In order to create an indicator, that would fit your products the best we invite you to cooperate with us to optimize the COOLID parameters to your requirements. We will adjust our indicator to unique specification of your product.

Process Facts