SUPERMARKET REFRIGERATION
Food quality: the tip of the iceberg
Dr Catarina Marques, foodservice engineering manager at Adande Refrigeration, discusses the issue of food waste in retail applications.
T
he issue of food waste has been championed through a range of campaigns, not least via WRAP’s ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ initiative. WRAP has estimated that the retail sector accounted for up to 250,000 tonnes of food waste in 2016. There are a number of reasons for food waste in the cold chain, but a proportion of this food waste is generated by produce which deteriorates in quality or appearance whist being displayed in a refrigerated retail cabinet and is consequently discounted or thrown away. UK food retailers and their suppliers have responded to calls for a reduction in food waste and will welcome developments in refrigerated retail display technology, which will help achieve this goal.
In food technology, it is an established fact that perishables held within a narrow and stable temperature bandwidth and at higher relative humidity will be maintained at better quality for longer, leading to an extended shelf life and a more enjoyable product for the customer. To help quantify the importance of stable holding temperature bandwidths and higher relative humidity for the display of perishables, we commissioned Assured Quality Solutions to assist in scientific trials at our environmental test chambers in Lowestoft.
Over a seven day period of extended food display, bags of baby leaf salad and house salad bowls, provided by a major industry supplier, were held in a commercially available open front multi deck (cabinet B) and an identical model, modified with the patented Aircell air flow management system (cabinet A). Salad produce was selected for the tests due to its sensitivity to temperature abuse and its relatively short shelf life, typically six days.
Fresh vegetables are living tissues which undergo respiration and transpiration processes, the rate of which dramatically impacts on product quality. During respiration oxygen is consumed and sugar is converted into CO2, water and heat energy. The rate of respiration increases with temperature, resulting in metabolic changes in composition, texture and colour. Loss of moisture due to transpiration results in wilting and shrivelling, obvious signs of lost freshness.
The trials were conducted in an environmental chamber controlled to climate class 3 (25°C/60% RH) and temperatures were measured in front of each cabinet in accordance with the ISO 23953:2015 test standard. During the trials, the conventional single air curtain cabinet demonstrated a temperature bandwidth of 11.2ºC compared
34 October 2018
www.acr-news.com
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