Food Trasport Refrigeration

The commercial food sector, including agriculture, food manufacture transport and retailing is responsible for 22% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Food distribution and retail accounts for approximately one third of this, with food transport which includes motive power and refrigeration estimated to be responsible for 1.8 % of total emissions [1]. Road transport refrigeration equipment are required to operate reliably in much harsher environments than stationary refrigeration equipment. Due to the wide range of operating conditions and constraints imposed by available space and weight, transport refrigeration equipment have lower efficiencies than stationary systems. This, coupled to rapidly increasing use of refrigerated transport arising from the much wider range of transported goods, home delivery and greater quality expectations, is placing considerable pressures on the food industry to reduce the energy consumption of refrigerated transport. This report provides a review of food transport refrigeration and recent research into the development and application of alternative technologies to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. 1. Temperature control and legislation requirements for refrigerated transport EU and UK legislation covers temperature control requirements during the storage and transport of perishable foods. These regulations have been revised in early 2006 and regulation EC No 852/2004 on the Hygiene of Foodstuffs requires manufacturers to have suitable temperature controlled handling and storage facilities that can maintain food at appropriate temperatures and enable these temperatures to be monitored controlled and recorded. There are also specific temperature requirements for certain categories of food. Examples of specific temperature requirements for chilled and frozen food products are given in Table 1 [2]. The UK has also implemented specific chill temperature control requirements for foodstuffs not covered by EC No 853/2004. These requirements apply to food which is likely to support the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms or the formation of toxins. Such food must be kept below 8 oC unless the manufacturer recommends otherwise, but this must be based on well-founded scientific assessment of the safety of the food at the specified temperature.