If you’re a food industry professional looking to transport perishable, refrigerated, frozen or dried goods, you’re in luck — you can streamline the food couriering process using a handful of essential guidelines based on federal food safety standards.

Learn how to comply with regulations and overcome food packaging challenges while elevating product quality, boosting shelf life and maximizing client satisfaction.

How to Handle Processing and Packaging for Food Delivery

Proper packaging and processing are the first line of defense in maintaining food safety during delivery, and each food type has its own set of best practices.

1. Shipping Perishable Food Items

Perishable foods like fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy require careful handling during travel so they don’t spoil. To preserve quality during transport:

• Use moisture-resistant packaging: Choose waterproof containers that protect fresh produce against physical damage and contamination.
• Clearly mark goods as perishable: Labeling makes transport conditions quick and easy for handlers and recipients to double-check and apply.
• Control temperature and humidity: Follow the guidelines set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the table below to keep perishable food fresh.
• Choose insulated containers: Insulated containers help stabilize temperatures and minimize fluctuations throughout transport.
• Opt for the fastest courier: Select a reliable and quick delivery service to reduce transit time and minimize overheating risk.
• Ventilate fruits and vegetables: Ensure proper ventilation to prevent ethylene gas buildup, which can accelerate ripening and spoilage.
• Separate ethylene producers: Keep ethylene-emitting fruits, like bananas, away from vegetables to maintain their freshness.

2. Shipping Refrigerated Food Items

To ensure your refrigerated goods stay uncontaminated, delicious and up to the USDA’s standard:

• Keep products at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit: This temperature is crucial for preventing harmful bacterial growth.

• Pre-cool transport vehicles: Cooling the truck before loading helps avoid temperature spikes during transit.
• Check refrigeration at least every four hours: Regular checks help identify temperature control issues early, preventing spoilage.
• Mark products with “keep refrigerated”: Clear labeling lets handlers know about required storage conditions.
• Minimize outside exposure during loading: Reduce the time doors are open during loading to maintain the transport vehicle’s internal temperature.
• Add recipient instructions: Provide clear handling and storage instructions to maintain food safety upon arrival.
• Conduct a vulnerability assessment: Identify potential contamination points and establish control measures at critical spots.

3. Shipping Frozen Food Items

Proper handling of frozen foods is crucial as they are particularly temperature-sensitive. To maintain frozen food’s integrity during transit:

• Keep foods below 0 degrees Fahrenheit: This temperature prevents thawing and refreezing, which can compromise safety, texture and taste.
• Monitor the temperature: Regular checks ensure products stay frozen throughout their journey.
• Minimize loading time: Quick loading reduces temperature fluctuations when handlers open transport vehicle doors.
• Use thick-walled insulated containers: These containers help keep temperatures low and protect food from external heat sources.
• Consider using dry ice: Dry ice absorbs heat well, comes in various forms and stays colder for longer. Always have specially trained handlers use personal protection equipment (PPE) and dispose of dry ice safely.
• Label packages containing dry ice: Clear labeling lets handlers know to take the necessary safety precautions.
• Tightly seal food: Proper airtight package sealing prevents air exposure, which can lead to freezer burn.
• Avoid freezing milk and cheese: Freezing and rethawing can change these products’ texture and flavor.

4. Shipping Dried Food Items

While dried foods are more forgiving in warmer temperatures, they still require attention during transport. To preserve quality:

• Use sturdy padded cardboard boxes: These protect against physical damage to products and packaging.
• Minimize extreme temperatures: Keep dried foods in a stable temperature range, ideally below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Choose airtight packaging for food delivery: Airtight packaging, particularly vacuum-sealed bags, stops dried products from absorbing moisture, preventing bacterial growth and spoilage.
• Monitor humidity levels: Maintain low humidity at around 60% or less to discourage mold growth and prolong shelf life.
• Consider using oxygen absorbers: These are sachets of powder that chemically react with and remove oxygen from sealed environments, prolonging food freshness.

USDA Guidelines for Temperature and Humidity in Food Transport

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) sets temperature and humidity guidelines for various fresh and frozen whole food items during transport, including meat, dairy and poultry and ready-to-eat fermented, cured, and dried products.

Although some fruits and vegetables have unique ideal conditions, the USDA provides the following general recommendations for shipping perishable food items.

USDA Guidelines for Temperature and Humidity in Food Transport
Food Item	Temperature During Transport	Relative Humidity During Transport
Cheese	34°F-40°F	65%-70%
Ice Cream	0°F	Low humidity preferred
Fresh Meat	28-32°F	85%-90%
Fresh Seafood	32°F	85%-90%
Fresh Poultry	26°F-34°F	90%-95%
Hard-Chilled Poultry	0°F-26°F	90%-95%
Shell Eggs	40°F-45°F	80%-85%
Jerky	60°F-70°F	Low humidity preferred
Fresh Fruits	55°F-65°F	85%-95%
Fresh Vegetables	32°F	90%-95%

How to Solve Food Transport and Food Packaging Challenges

Couriering food can present many different hurdles. Fortunately, with good planning and a reliable team, you can overcome these obstacles and ensure safe delivery.

1. Prevent Food Contamination and Spoilage

Schedule daily warehouse and delivery vehicle cleaning routines, including regular surface, equipment and PPE sanitization. Reduce human error by training staff on safe food handling practices like packing raw and cooked products separately and reporting any spills and leaks.

To slow down spoilage on the road, use strong, airtight packaging and temperature-controlled vehicles with reliable refrigeration strategies so goods stay cool. Monitor load temperatures throughout the supply chain using remote temperature sensors.

2. Protect Food From Freezer Burn and Icy Weather Conditions

Freezer burn can happen from overly cold refrigerator settings or very cold weather, compromising your food’s appearance, taste and texture. When shipping frozen food, protect your products by limiting air exposure with tough, airtight packaging. Plan delivery routes to avoid driving through frigid conditions and be quick when loading and unloading to prevent exposure to outside temperatures.

To safeguard fresh, dried and refrigerated food against unwanted freezing, use insulated packaging, thermal blankets and even carefully monitored heat packs in icy conditions. Ensure your delivery vehicles come with adjustable temperature settings and monitor them continually. Place the most temperature-sensitive products in the center of the load.

3. Safeguard Food Against Physical Damage

Use padding materials like packing peanuts, bubble wrap or foam inserts to secure items within their packaging. Secure larger containers like boxes and pallets with straps or nets to keep the load stationary. Distribute the load’s weight evenly in the transport vehicle so your goods don’t shift or collide during bumps and turns.

4. Ensure Food is Properly Labeled and Traceable

Proper labeling is essential for delivery tracking and compliance with safety regulations. Ensure your packaging includes the necessary information, such as product names, required temperatures and handling instructions.

With proper labeling and tracing, you can record critical information like product origins, batch numbers, expiration dates and transfer points and readily provide them to the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) if requested.

5. Prepare for Unexpected Supply Chain Disruptions

Plan what to do in an emergency, such as which alternative routes you can take during road closures and how to save temperature-sensitive products in the event of a delay or vehicle failure.

Work with an innovative, adaptable logistics solutions provider that uses predictive analytics to anticipate potential supply chain hold-ups and adjust delivery strategies accordingly.

6. Learn the National Food Safety Regulations

The FDA’s Department of Health and Human Services regulates sanitary food transport in the U.S. under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). It includes two key regulations:

1. The FDA’s Sanitary Transportation Rule ensures food safety during transit by setting standards for vehicle cleanliness, temperature control, carrier training, record-keeping and contamination prevention.
2. The FDA’s Food Traceability Rule (FTR) states that specific foods on the FDA’s Food Traceability List require detailed tracking for quick identification and quick decontamination. This involves recording critical steps like harvesting, packing, and shipping and linking them to pieces of information like dates and locations.

Optimize Your Food and Beverage Logistics With ExpressIt Delivery

The most reliable food transport strategy is to outsource your logistics solutions to courier experts and rest assured, knowing all your bases are covered. You can rely on ExpressIt Delivery to go above and beyond to meet your unique needs, from same-day delivery services to stress-free returns management and beyond. Partner with us and experience a detail-oriented, always-evolving approach that delivers results.

Reach out and request a quote online today.