Effects of food and beverage storage, distribution, display and consumer handling on shelf life

Abstract

The cold chain is essential in ensuring the safety, organoleptic quality, nutritional content and market value of perishable foodstuffs from harvest or slaughter to the consumer. Temperature control throughout the cold chain is therefore a vital tool to minimise food quality and safety problems and temperature control and monitoring is an integral part of any food management system as well as being, in many areas of the cold chain, a legislative requirement. Refrigeration technologies are one of the most energy-intensive technologies used in the food supply chain. This chapter covers temperature control and food quality in the food cold chain and how storage life is assessed. © 2011 Woodhead Publishing Limited All rights reserved.