How freezing is cold enough: Beef temperatures in the spotlight

Industry leaders in the research and development space for beef and sheepmeat processing are moving on having standards in trade modernised to reflect that.

The Australian Meat Processor Corporation says the cost of getting meat products to the standard -18C freezing temperature, and keeping them there, is high.

AMPC has been investigating the implications of lifting the freezing temperature to -12C.

Theoretical calculations of the costs of freezing and frozen storage under different conditions have been made. The cost of freezing to -12°C is estimated to be $1.20/tonne, which is 20 per cent less than freezing to -18°C.

The cost of storing at -12°C is estimated to be $7.28/tonne/day - 60pc less than storing at -18°C in a warehouse.

The cost of maintaining temperature while shipping by sea at -12°C is estimated to be $112/tonne/day, or 30pc less than shipping by sea at -18°C.

Add all those together and it is a significant cost and environmental benefit across the supply chain thanks to reduced energy usage, and -12C had already been demonstrated to provide good shelf life for frozen meats, AMPC program manager Ann McDonald said.

Since the 1960s, regulatory authorities around the world have made -18C the standard.

"Part of this project has been to identify the origin of this," Ms McDonald said.

"We have set out to understand the positions of stakeholders in the meat supply chain, especially regulators and international government and semi-government standard setting bodies, to determine whether change from the conventional storage temperature is feasible.

"The financial and environmental benefits will be weighed against the feasibility and actions required to achieve change."

Ms McDonald said there was a global push at the moment to increase temperatures of frozen foods to -15, based on sustainability, but Australia's red meat industry believed it was possible to go better.

Meat & Livestock Australia conducted a study to establish the practical shelf life of frozen beef and lamb, such as would be exported from Australia.

"The results at -12°C demonstrated no meaningful differences in quality and no food safety hazards were detected," Ms McDonald said.

"There is already some scope in the regulations to store some product at -12C, though it rarely happens.

"The current Codex Alimentarius Code of Practice recommends distribution of quick-frozen foods should maintain a temperature of -18°C but permits competent authorities to allow -12°C during transport, with the product temperature reduced to -18°C as soon as possible. This has not typically been common practice, but some large international frozen food producers have recently announced an intention to store some of their products at -12°C.

"From this investigative phase our next step would be to develop a scientific paper and submission to regulators and others along the supply chain to have the change agreed. The challenge will be to reach consensus across stakeholder groups but there is potential for significant savings in energy costs if this can be achieved."