THE UK frozen food industry could be saving over 10% on its refrigeration energy costs with relatively little capital investment, according to a report from the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF).
The project, carried out by Enviros with funding from the Carbon Trust, looked at cold store temperatures and refrigeration evaporating temperatures at eight food manufacturers and five logistic service providers.
In total, energy saving opportunities equivalent to 4,800 tonnes of CO2 per year were identified at these sites.
In this latest report, the BFFF has questioned the rationale behind the -18ºC maximum temperature requirement for quick frozen food.
It claims that -18ºC is an arbitrary figure more to do with food quality than food safety, chosen simply because it is exactly equal to 0ºF. Some food manufacturers, it is said, even set their cold stores well below -18ºC as an insurance against the product being exposed to warm temperatures later in the supply chain.
You can download a copy of the report here
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