Why is Temperature so critical to so many items?

Storage temperatures are critical to items such as food and blood. Food for example can have two sorts of temperature abuse.

QUALITY: The quality of some foods is severely lessened if storage temperatures are not maintained at the correct levels. Some foods are not freeze/thaw stable meaning if their storage temperature is too severe and they freeze, they will not have the same consistency in use after being thawed. Some made-up gravies and sauces are good examples. Conversely, some food that should be kept frozen will deteriorate if allowed to thaw and then re-frozen. Ice cream is the classical example used by most people to illustrate this temperature problem. Ice cream is produced with over-run or aeration and then immediately frozen. If allowed to thaw or melt the aeration collapses and when re-frozen the product does not have the same consistency and mouth feel most consumers associate with a perfect ice cream product.

SAFETY: Of greater importance are the safety issues for food not stored at correct temperatures. The degree of safety concern can vary from food type to food type depending upon a number of factors but specifically depending upon the nature of the food and its ‘friendliness’ to bacteria. Tomato sauce for example is an acid-based product that is an unfriendly environment for bacteria. If left unrefrigerated, tomato sauce will suffer from what is commonly referred to as ‘black-neck’ but the product itself is unlikely to carry and grow high levels of harmful bacteria on the basis the acid naturally occuring in tomatoes provides a hostile environment for bacteria. Milk, fresh seafood and chicken however are examples of food products that provide an environment conducive to the growth of bacterial or microbial contamination. At certain temperatures food products can incubate bacteria resulting in rapid growth of sometimes deadly toxins.

Temperature recording for food storage is an essential part of any food safety or HACCP plan. Not only does temperature recording provide a permanent record of when temperature abuse occurs but if abuse occurs it is the relationship between time and temperature that becomes critical in determining the suitability of the food for human consumption.

Temperature recording for food is also critical at the cooking or re-heating stage where the core or deep-meat temperature of the food needs to reach certain temperatures to eliminate bacteria in some instances.

Data Acquisition Networks (DAN) is one of the very few companies that provide a means for routine and continuous collection of data records and in the event of a mishap, provides a record of both time and temperature.

Visit www.danmonitoring.com to find out more or better still . . . . . .give DAN a call on 1300 973 180.