SpotSee’s MaxiLog Alert and MaxiLog PDF data loggers provide a reliable defense against temperature-related risks in food transportation
Key Takeaways:
- Shipping perishable foods comes at the risk of spoilage with temperature excursions
- A data logger provides a reliable first line of defense
- Reduce losses and earn customer trust with temperature indicators, recorders, and monitors
When shipping or storing food, the stakes are high. If a shipment of seafood spoils mid-transit due to unnoticed temperature fluctuations, it can cause losses of money and reputation. You can alienate customers and perhaps even put their health at risk.
So data loggers for food shipments become essential, identifying spoilage,and ensuring compliance with food safety regulations.
The Hidden Challenges of Food Transportation
As food moves through the supply chain, it must be kept at a consistent temperature, or else companies risk spoilage and health risks to consumers. The cold chain needs to be ensured throughout the transit and storage processes.
The cold chain is the conditions “set for foods relating to the maximum and minimum temperature requirements, and the length of time a food product can be allowed to remain unrefrigerated.”
The process of shipping food ranges from moving from points of origin, such as farms and suppliers, to processing centers for sorting, cleaning, and packaging. From there, it is transferred to distribution centers or warehouses, where it is stored before being sent directly to retailers or consumers.
Equipment failures, packaging breakdowns, and disruptions to the process, such as natural disasters, labor disputes, or geopolitical disputes, can lead to conditions where temperature-sensitive goods such as dairy, produce, and frozen foods can go bad.
By ensuring that they have the proper safeguards in place, food businesses can meet strict compliance standards designed to ensure food safety and follow the appropriate transportation protocols for food handling, preventing contamination and spoilage.
SpotSee Data Loggers: Your First Line of Defense
Temperature data loggers are essential for monitoring perishable goods such as foods and pharmaceuticals. Food-monitoring data loggers can play a role in:
- Preventing food-borne illnesses
- Maintaining the quality of foods
- Ensuring regulatory compliance
- Minimizing product losses
- Increasing operational efficiency
Data loggers for food shipments provide critical temperature history that helps businesses identify supply chain vulnerabilities and assess product safety. By tracking temperature fluctuations throughout transit, these devices enable companies to pinpoint specific areas needing improvement and make informed decisions about product quality upon receipt. The detailed temperature data allows quick determination of whether goods can safely continue through the supply chain or must be discarded to maintain food safety standards.
There is no stronger first line of defense than SpotSee temperature monitoring solutions, which include a comprehensive range of data loggers and monitors for precise tracking of shipments.
Take, for example, the SpotSee MaxiLog Alert Multi-Use data logger (it also comes as a single-use model), which covers a temperature range of 29°C to +72°C / -20°F to +162°F. Able to fit in the palm of your hand, it provides reliable temperature monitoring history for temperature excursions. It’s easy to retrieve data through a built-in USB interface, allowing direct downloads to software.
It also has customization options for time delays, sampling intervals, high and low alarm values, alarm types, and measurement data.
The MaxiLog PDF is a lightweight, single-use, 90-temperature temperature data logger with USB connectivity. The device can fit easily into small packages. It has a standard start delay of 30 minutes so that the logger can adjust to the internal temperatures of the shipped cargo. At 10-minute intervals, it will collect updated temperature validations. Later, when plugged into a computer, it can yield automatic reports and graph summaries.
Both data loggers can identify issues early in the shipping process so companies can take quick corrective actions.
Where SpotSee Solutions Make the Difference
Food companies with perishable items can benefit from using SpotSee data loggers for perishable items that include seafood, dairy, fresh produce, and frozen goods.
For example, if you are a grower of fruits and vegetables who sends their goods to distribution centers and markets, you face the risks of contamination and spoilage.
MaxiLog PDF temperature monitoring data loggers are inserted into the shipping containers.
Upon completion of a shipment, the logger is inserted into a computer, providing a comprehensive temperature history with readings taken every 10 minutes, typically displayed in an easy-to-understand chart form. This data is used to document that fruits and vegetables were properly handled during transit. If temperature excursions occur, the system pinpoints exactly where in the supply chain the problems arose, enabling corrective actions for future shipments
The recorded data serves as crucial documentation for compliance with Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations, which are designed to identify and control food safety hazards. By providing a detailed temperature history, these loggers offer proof of proper food handling and minimize risks associated with potential legal issues related to problematic shipments. This level of monitoring and documentation is essential for maintaining food safety standards and optimizing supply chain efficiency in the food industry.
Using a SpotSee data logger, a food shipper can minimize their risks and improve their operations in the race to get food to grocery stores and ensure maximum shelf life and consumer satisfaction. If the food arrives at the store unfit for resale, the shipper could face non-payment for a product or negotiate a lower price.
Why SpotSee Data Loggers Are Essential for Food Protection
Using SpotSee data loggers, food producers and shippers can minimize financial losses caused by product spoilage and rejections. They can also ensure compliance with food safety regulations and industry standards and build customer trust by consistently delivering safe, high-quality products.
Learn how SpotSee’s MaxiLog solutions can safeguard your food shipments. Contact one of our helpful sales reps today. They will be happy to answer your questions, take your orders, and provide you with the best food for thought for your business.
