Food waste/spoilage.

Many chefs and kitchen personnel are content if the cold chain (mainly walk-in chillers or cold rooms) run at an acceptable ambient temperature (which evidence is usually restricted to viewing the external temperature gauge).

Even those that only use core temperatures as their benchmark are content when the readings are where they should be.

What most food buffs, with respect, overlook is that airborne bacteria, food spoilage gases (e.g. ethylene) and fluctuating humidity levels are the primary causes of refrigerated food spoilage or “qualitative deterioration” (the term I use as many in the food industry are in denial when it comes to food spoilage/wastage).

There are a number of ‘clean’ technologies that one can gainfully employ in redressing food wastage from removal of ethylene and airborne bacteria to controlling humidity in any size cold chain facility (from domestic right through to industrial-size chillers).

Scrubber and absorption-type technologies (like Sorbite and zeolite) that filter the air of a cold chain through to fog misting/humidification, in larger facilities, will extend food shelf life well beyond the norm, and as importantly, if you choose the correct solution it will usually pay for itself and even add to your bottom line!