The efficiency of thermal insulating bags during domestic transport of chilled food items

It has been demonstrated that temperature control is critical in the last three steps in the cold chain including transport between retail and the consumer’s home. The aim of this study is therefore to evaluate the efficiency of thermal insulating bags meant to transport frozen foods from stores to consumers’ homes also in case of transporting chilled foods. The efficiency of three insulating and one typical PVC bag as a control is evaluated. Evaluation is done at different internal (related to the load of the bag) and external (related to the outside temperature) conditions, also taking their price into consideration. During evaluation, measurements of test objects’ internal temperature were executed at five-minute intervals with a Testo 177-T4 data logger. The measurements reveal variations of the test objects’ internal temperature in accordance with air temperature outside the bag and the degree of load in the bag. The evaluated insulating bags are not efficient enough to preserve appropriate temperature environments for chilled food items under experimental conditions. There was also no confirmation of any significant impact of insulating bag purchase price.