What Types of Food Items Can Be Stored In Cold Storage
In the world of industries associated with perishable goods, maintaining the right temperature is important, especially in the food industry. Whether it be a small-scale restaurant, supermarket, grocery or large-scale food processing, the absence of proper cold storage makes it challenging to preserve and transport the perishables in optimal condition. If you are planning to consider buying for storing such foodstuffs, you might be wondering what are the types of food items that can be stored in such a facility.
This blog explores the different types of cold storage food items available. By the time you reach the end of the blog, you understand its importance, along with the tips that you need to follow for effective cold storage. With this in mind, let's get started!
What is Cold Storage?
Before we talk about its type and go into the rest of the topic, let's first talk about cold storage in brief. In simple words, cold storage is a warehouse with a thick, insulated floor, ceiling and walls. This facility makes sure that the product stays fresh for a longer duration without losing its nutrients or flavours by controlling the temperature.
Furthermore, commercial cold rooms come in different sizes and equipment, including refrigerators, freezers and large-scale cold rooms. Whether you require a refrigerator for restaurants or a more spacious and reliable commercial cold room storage solution for the food processing industry, there is a wide array of options to choose from in the market.
Why is it Important to Store Food in Cold Storage?
It is impossible to talk about the variety of cold storage food items without talking about why it is actually important to store such perishables in cold storage. So, let's take a closer look at key points that highlight its benefits.
1. Preserve freshness and improve security
One of the major benefits of cold storage is its ability to maintain consistent temperature. With a cold storage facility, the business responsible for storing a large amount of cold storage food items can reduce the risk of contamination and food spoilage. Although installing a cold storage room might cost you some money initially, you can save a lot of money as your products can be sold before they start to spoil.
2. Improved Market Expansion
Maintaining a consistent temperature is essential throughout the food supply chain. Here, effective cold storage plays a vital role in the distribution and sale of fresh produce to geographically distant markets, expanding the market. Besides, they allow the purchase of bulk storage of fresh produce. This, in turn, helps harvesters and manufacturers retain their products at the time of peak production when the market price decreases due to oversupply.
3. Optimizing space
Not just for market expansion, but well-planned cold storage rooms can assist in organizing a high volume of a variety of products. As a result, your business is able to streamline its inventory management. When everything is stored in order, it is easy to reach and allocate the products. This results in enhanced task efficiency and saves a lot of time and money.
4. Eco-friendly Design
If you put proper cold storage in place, it allows farmers to retain the taste, texture and appearance of the produce. Aside from allowing a steady product supply throughout the year, these rooms are created with energy-saving, minimizing electricity bills and sustainability in mind. The facilities take advantage of the insulation and energy efficiency compressor that can contribute to reducing energy consumption.
5. Compliance with Food Safety Regulations
Last but not least, the cold storage room utilizes the state-of-the-art temperature and humidity regulatory system to achieve the appropriate environment. As a result, cold rooms, regardless of the form of the food industry, help meet stringent food safety regulations. Any non-compliance leads to financial loss and even loss in the reputation of the company.
These are some of the benefits of cold storage regarding cold storage food items. However, this is not the complete list as they vary on several factors. We hope this provides a broad understanding of the overall advantage.
Recmmended Blog: Cold Storage for Vegetables and Fruits: Benefits & Importance
Cold Storage Food Item List
As you may have guessed by now, cold storage rooms are an integral aspect of ensuring the taste, safety and retaining nutrients of food items. Knowing what cold storage foods to refrigerate further improves food safety and extends its longevity. We have prepared the cold storage food items list to simplify your decision-making process.
1. Dairy Products
One of the major cold storage food items that you cannot exclude is dairy products such as bread, cakes, butter and milk. Investing in the cold room facility helps them from going bad for longer periods without freezing. That said, the general temperature required by the dairy products ranges between 1°C and 4°C(34°F to 39°F). Overall, this helps the industry make more profit and maintain its consumer health.
2. Meats and Poultry
Similar to dairy products, we all know that meats and poultry products do not last long. As a result, low temperature is provided for such cold storage food items. By doing this, business slows down the growth of bacteria and moulds, reducing the risk of foodborne illness. These products should be preserved at a temperature of 40°F or below in the cold storage refrigeration solution to prevent the chance of spoilage.
3. Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts
It goes without saying that the ice cream and frozen desserts industry cannot function without proper cold storage. In fact, a cold room prevents these from melting and forming ice crystals. They also prevent the development of off-flavours, ensuring the said products maintain their taste and high quality. In general, the temperature required in this scenario is -18°C(0°F) or below. The commercial refrigerator or walk-in freezer comes into play in this regard.
4. Vegetables and Fruits
The cold temperature settings play a vital role in vegetables and fruits to extend their shelf life. By reducing the respiration rates, the cold storage facility comes in handy to help farmers increase the storage duration of these post-harvested products. Not only that, but a cold room solution also enables transporting these perishables without compromising their quality. This improves your market presence along with the rise of income and profit margins from domestic and international trading. That said, the ideal temperature for storing fruits and vegetables like garlic, onions, spinach, corn, peas, tomatoes, berries, and potatoes ranges between 3°C and 6°C.
5. Beverages
Last but not least, a beverage is a liquid cold storage food item that needs a precise low temperature to prevent the growth of bacteria and other enzymatic reactions and oxidation. The pre-defined temperature requirement for beverages such as beer, fruit juice, soda, ready-to-drink cocktails or energy drinks should be around 40°F or below. It makes sense that anything below this temperature is considered to be safe to consume.
Besides the ones we mentioned above, there can be many more types of the best cold storage food items to keep separate. This includes but is not limited to bakery items, herbs, fats, sugar(liquid) and more.
Tips for Effective Cold Storage for Food Items
By now, we all know that by investing in reliable cold storage solutions, dairy, poultry, meat and ice cream businesses can achieve long-term cost savings and maintain product integrity. Thus, the food-based industry now more than ever considers cutting-edge cold storage warehouses. However, to make the most of your cold storage facility, consider the following best practice tips.
- Cold-storage food items should not be kept in the temperature danger zone. This primarily ranges from 40ºF to 140ºF, in which bacteria can multiply. Ensure that the temperature is below the danger zone for your foods to be safe to use.
- Just like any electronic device, you require routine maintenance of the cold storage refrigeration units. If you notice a rise in temperature within the warehouse, then call for a repair technician right away.
- In order to reduce the risk of cross-contamination, it is advisable to arrange the cold storage product list based on their cooking needs.
- As you stock the food in the warehouse, it is advisable to place ready-to-eat items such as pre-cooked deserts or vegetables on the top shelves. By doing this, you can prevent them from coming in contact with potentially contaminated foods. At the same time, items like raw meat that need the highest cooking temperature should be placed at the bottom.
- While managing the inventories, providing extra attention to air circulation is a must. This means leaving enough room for air to circulate without overcrowding the stuff.
- Shut the refrigerated door quickly to minimize the quality loss of foods from warm air entering in case of a power outage.
- It can be a challenge to maintain an accurate inventory of large amounts. To avoid storing the perishable items beyond their expiry dates, you can label them with easy-to-read large dates.
- Give priority to use the products with the oldest dates. This method, known as First-In-First-Out(FIFO), enhances the food safety practice.
These are some of the key guidelines that you need to follow to keep your food safe at all times in the cold storage facility. Do note that it is also important to consider which one should be given the highest priority.
Best Cold Storage for Food Items: NepCool
After understanding the importance of cold storage solutions and cold storage food items list, you might be wondering about the best cold storage manufacturer for food items your needs and requirements. Look no further than Nepcool. The reasons why you should choose Nepcool as your trusted partner for the best cold storage for food items are as follows.
- Nepcool focuses on minimizing energy consumption by employing up-to-date technology, including high-quality compressors, modern insulation and smart temperature control systems.
- At Nepcool, we assist your organization in adhering to stringent food safety regulations and hygiene standards. Failure to comply may result in financial loss and potentially harm your company’s reputation.
- We use the latest IOT Technology for automatic alert systems and monitoring of environmental factors, including humidity and temperature.
- With years of experience, we take pride in building cold room storage solutions from high-grading materials, ensuring durability and long-lasting.
Ever since our establishment, Nepcool has focused on providing clients with affordable, eco-friendly and long-lasting refrigeration. If you are still looking for the best cold storage that not only meets but also surpasses your unique food storing needs, contact Nepcool. Choosing us as your one-time investment can be the ideal decision you can make for your business.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cold storage is custom-built rooms primarily designed to store perishable items at low temperatures. They come in handy in preserving the taste, texture and quality of cold storage food items such as meat and poultry, dairy, ice cream and agricultural products from the point of production to distribution to retailers. But before you decide to go for such a cold storage solution, it is essential to learn about the type of food items you want to store, as cold storage temperatures for different food items greatly vary.
In this blog, we provide you with the overall gist of the type of food items that can be stored in cold storage. We hope you find this helpful. If you seek further insight into other aspects of cold storage food items, check out some of our other blogs. Thank you for reading till the end.
FAQs on Cold Storage Food Items
1. What foods can be stored in cold storage?
Cold storage can store a wide variety of food items. Some of these foodstuffs are listed below.
- Frozen foodstuffs
- Raw and processed meats
- Dairy products such as milk
- Pre-cooked and leftover foods
- Ice cream and desserts
- Beverages
- Fish and Seafoods
2. What can I use for cold storage?
You can use cold storage to increase the shelf life of perishable goods ranging from food items to pharmaceutical products, chemicals and flowers that are affected by temperature deviation. They come equipped with several benefits, such as improved supply chain efficiency,
3. What is cold storage food?
Cold storage foods are perishable food items that are kept at low temperatures to maintain their nutrients, texture and quality for longer periods. These foods include dry vegetables, fruits, beverages, dairy products, bakery items, fish and processed meats. 4.
4. Who needs cold storage?
There are major industries ranging from food, beverage, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, medicines and chemicals that need cold storage. In fact, cold storage is an important investment for success regardless of the industry you are involved with.
5. What are the advantages of cold storage?
The advantages of cold storage include.
- By prolonging the quality of food and avoiding contamination
- Comply with the health and food safety guidelines.
- Cost-effectiveness in the long run
- Prevention of health issues
- Helps in reducing the food wastage