ABSTRACT
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
II. Quality and Safety Risks During the Transport of Frozen Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
III. Design and Operational Factors Affecting Temperature Uniformity
During Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
A. Initial Temperature of Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
B. Airflow Management and Loading Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
C. Type of Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
D. Refrigeration System and Temperature Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
E. Door Seals, Insulation, and Aging of Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
IV. Containerized Sea Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
V. Vessel Sea Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
VI. Road Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
VII. Rail Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
VIII. Air Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
IX. Monitoring and Control During the Distribution of Frozen Products . . . . . . . . . . . 237
A. Regulatory Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
B. Technology for Temperature Monitoring During Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
X. Future Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
XI. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
About 650 million tons of food are shipped every year worldwide [1]. Most of these shipments
are via maritime transport, but high-value frozen foods are being increasingly shipped by air. In
this scenario, supply chain management has emerged as an integrated approach, which evaluates
the effect of variables such as logistics, distribution, technology, quality, safety, costs, and times
in the overall efficiency of a particular commercial operation. The transportation of goods is
now seen as a part of a “system,” rather than as an isolated event within the commercial operations
required to position a product in the market. The analysis of the supply chain components for
chilled and frozen foods needs to be particularly meticulous, to minimize negative economic,
legal, and moral consequences associated with the loss of quality and integrity of products.
