The fresh fruits and vegetables that are piled high on supermarket shelves have made it safely from to farm and table thanks to the cold chain. While getting the right product to the right location at the right time is crucial in any type of transport system, for food it’s also critical that perishable goods are protected during fulfillment, distribution, and transportation. Each partner along the cold chain, from producers to distributors to retailers, needs to ensure the safety and quality of each item. Here are some best practices for managing perishables in your cold chain.
Ensure FSMA Regulations are Being Met
The Food and Drug Administration released final rules for “Sanitary Transportation” of food products that will be used for human and animal food. As a supply chain operator, it’s your responsibility to provide products that are safe for consumption. It’s essential to your reputation and continued business success. But working with your vendors and suppliers on this isn’t always easy. Since each food item you handle has specific needs, different foods will be kept safest at different temperatures. An unbroken cold chain keeps food at an even, appropriate temperature throughout the transportation process, from the factory or ship to the temporary holding facility, and from the truck to a grocery store. It’s the only way to reduce temperature-related quality and food safety issues.
Employ a Real-Time Temperature Monitoring for Your Cold Chain
The best way to protect your products is to require your suppliers to use a cold chain monitoring system that’s simple, effective, and transparent. Lightning Real Time single-use temperature recorders provide online access to current temperature, location, and door status while perishable shipments are in-transit. Accurate temperature records, ease of use, cost effectiveness, transparency, and easy data archiving features will be important aspects of any intransit temperature monitoring program.
Get in Touch with Cargo Data
Cargo Data’s Lightning real-time temperature monitoring system is designed specifically to be a Turn-Key system to meet the needs of most shippers, carriers, and receivers to achieve FSMA compliance for in-transit temperature monitoring. To learn more about how to specify Lightning real-time system to your suppliers, give us a call at (800) 338-8134 or visit cargodatacorp.com.