KPI #3 - Meat Temperature
In order to protect your cold chain, it is essential to maintain its temperature below 4 °C. By monitoring the cold chain temperature in real time and having a system in place which will set off automatic alerts when the cold chain is broken, your teams will be able to take the appropriate corrective actions and most importantly, avoid contamination and losses associated therewith.
According to the MAPAQ, maintaining the cold chain is defined as follows:
" All operations of the process which are used to maintain refrigerated food (4 °C or less) or frozen food (-18 °C or less) at a safe internal temperature during each stage of the supply chain, from the handling up to storage and ultimately until made available to the end-user.
Maintaining the cold chain helps contribute to food safety and to preserve the quality of the products since any temperature rise accelerates the growth of microorganisms and reduces the shelf life of food products. The latter can become harmful to a consumer's health. The same principle is applied to all food which must be served hot and that requires maintaining an internal temperature greater than 60 °C, for example food normally kept in a food warmer. Furthermore, after it is cooked or reheated, food must be maintained at a temperature of 60 ° C or more at all times until delivered or until served to the end consumer.
SOURCE: https://www.etsbiofreeze.com/solutions/cold-chain-logistics-solution/
The MAPAQ has published this safe internal cooking and food storage temparatures chart which serves as a reminder of the principal food temperature standards that should be respected (In French ONLY):
Read 5 Critical KPIs that Meat Processors Should Monitor in Real Time - Part 4
