5 replies to this topic

[egonwie79]

Hello everyone, we produce raw pork meat and utilize a holding freezer at -11 to -15°C to store partial pallets until they are assembled into full pallets, which can take up to five days. Once the full pallet is completed, it is transferred to a storage freezer at -18°C. I would appreciate any insights or feedback regarding this process from a food safety standards perspective to ensure compliance and safety.

[GMO]

The "standard" for freezing temperature in the UK is -18oC with lower storage times if it's higher than that.  That said, when you look into why there's not really a solid reason.   I'm not sure if it's concluded but Morrisons' (A UK retailer) were trialling -15oC for environmental reasons.

 

Morrisons increases store freezer temperature to cut carbon emissions | The Independent

 

That said, -11oC sounds high.  How has it been validated?

[jfrey123]

@GMO your article points out a standard that I've been really curious about:  the -18C/0F standard was created 100 years ago per that article, and it's really difficult to find why it's accepted as the standard for freezing.  There aren't a lot of white papers regarding higher temps that I've come across, and most info from FDA/USDA here stateside seems to be presented for advising end consumers more than manufacturers of frozen foods.

 

FDA flat out says 0F food can be kept indefinitely.  2018-03-06-FoodStorageCharts-English  If that's the case, why are we required to have shelf lives for frozen goods?

 

I know a couple of our sites that struggle to maintain 0F freezers in summer months would find a benefit to 10F instead, and I'm not able to find a clear reason why that wouldn't be acceptable.  All I can do is tell the managers "Government says 0F, we gotta do it."

[GMO]

 

 

I know a couple of our sites that struggle to maintain 0F freezers in summer months would find a benefit to 10F instead, and I'm not able to find a clear reason why that wouldn't be acceptable.  All I can do is tell the managers "Government says 0F, we gotta do it."

 

Yep and that was the interesting thing when I looked into the -18oC thing.  Turned out there wasn't much fact behind it.  In fact the probable reason it's come about is it's approximately 0F.  

 

Do the government say 0F?  I'm not sure they do in the UK, I think it's guidance.  But obviously if it's law in your country you're stuffed in changing it.  

[Scampi]

CFIA is pretty clear, storage (even for 5 days) for items that are frozen is -18C OR LESS

 

Are the items frozen when the enter freezer #1?   If so, you could probably write a program that would make your inspectors happy BUT then you would need a monitoring record to go along with it 

e.g. Lot 1234abc , 15 cases was placed in freezer #1 on Jan 1/25

 

lot 1234abc, 15 cases was moved to freezer #2 on Jan 5/25

 

You'll also need to VERIFY that the freezer never rises above 15C

 

BTW -18C is for QUALITY not food safety          the deeper the freezer (quickly of course) the less damage the protein strings have (assuming the meat is also fairly dry at freezing)

 

it is ALSO -18C to allow for some warming when freezers enter the thaw cycle.......then the frozen material should not suffer any rise in temperature at all

 

If your product is NOT frozen when it hits the freezer, it probably won't be accepted by your inspectors

Edited by Scampi, 10 July 2025 - 07:57 PM.

[Daniel.Hebert]

Hello,

 

You may wish to consider the risk assessment for your meat products on parasites (and their eggs) which is where the -18 to -20 typically comes from.  I don't recall literature that would suggest -11 would be concern for other microbes.  For meat products that are less prone to this type of food safety risk, a "warmer" temperature may be acceptable.  I would recommend confirming the regulatory language for the jurisdiction you are in.  Depending on the language, some regulatory language is unambiguous on this as a requirement, and in others, they refer to "best practice" for the industry, or similar language, which would place more emphasis on a hazard assessment with a reference to peer reviewed material and/or a risk study they would accept.  You may still need to hold the product for a set period of time at the -18C temperature to satisfy those requirements.

 

Pork hasn't seen a trichinella issue in Canada for a while, at least in the commercial market, so I am unclear if this is still a rule in your province.  If you're under federal jurisdiction, you are likely subject to it as an enforcement rule.  This was the case for me some years ago, not long after a trichinella scare in 2012 or 2013, but I don't think that one entered the supply chain (small farm).  I had written a food safety program for a federally registered facility around that time, and the inspector had indicated the guidance was in fact an enforceable rule given the risk elevation in those years.  The factory had challenges keeping the temperature down and was operating at -15C.  Release of the product wasn't possible until we held it at -18C for about a week at that time, but I would suggest reviewing the current rules.

 

For your consideration: https://inspection.c...inella-spiralis