Don’t break the cold chain!

Getting our food from farm to grocery store, and keeping it fresh throughout its journey, is a delicate logistics feat.  Produce is prepared and stored in cold storage rooms, transported on refrigerated trucks, and finally stacked in temperature-controlled display cases in our stores.

But once we’ve bought our food and left the store, the cold chain is very often broken.  We put our shopping bags into a hot car, which in the summer can reach temperatures exceeding 25° Celsius!  And even in winter, when it’s bitter cold outside, we tend to keep our cars at a comfortable 20° or so.

This temperature variability presents a dangerous scenario for food safety.  Leaving food for too long at temperatures above 4°, can cause bacterial growth which can lead to illness.  Bacteria grow most rapidly between 4° and 60°, and can double in number in as little as 20 minutes.  This phenomenon is often referred to as the “temperature danger zone”,

Putting food shopping away in your fridge or freezer as soon as you get home is an obvious recommendation.  Transporting your shopping in an insulated cooler bag or box, is an added precaution that will not only keep your food fresh, but will also reduce the risk of your food spoiling and potentially causing your family to get sick. 

Keep it fresh!  http://www.thekoolbag.com