Transportation, Storage & Safety Solutions | Freshness, Quality & Complete Traceability

Ideal storage conditions are needed for fruits and vegetables to protect the crops against loss of moisture, decay and aging. The challenge lies in reaching these ideal conditions and maintaining them, due to the special conditions needed in these storage facilities. By monitoring CO2, humidity and temperature in food storages, you can ensure products’ freshness and taste, and reduce waste. In order to protect food and beverages in food environments for a long time and without deterioration, it must be monitored and continuously monitored with sensor equipment placed in their environment.

Dpstar offers a range of CO2, humidity and temperature instruments for food storage applications, that are designed to perform in these high humidity environments. You can choose the Vaisala Monitoring System to monitor the temperature, humidity 24/7, report temperature and humidity values during transportation and in the environments where food and beverages are stored, and to make continuous improvements and maintain the quality standard. Vaisala Systems does not only monitor the environments, but also provides you with analysis results and performance reports to keep the environments stable.

Condensation is common in many food manufacturing facilities, particularly those whose operations include both cool and warm processes. And if not mitigated and controlled, condensation can be a crucial cause of food adulteration. Condensation is caused from relative humidity and air temperature differentials in an environment (psychrometrics). The condensation can cause a water droplet to fall onto the food product. If contaminated, this water droplet could be a source of bacterial, chemical, or foreign material contamination for the food.

Proper humidity control prevents condensation on refrigerated cases. Cabinets with surface heaters prevent moisture from forming by keeping the surface temperature above ambient dew point. Accurate monitoring of moisture levels in the air can reduce unnecessary heating and reduce energy costs. Dpstar offers a variety of humidity and dew point instruments to accurately monitor moisture levels.

Refrigeration and freezing are important processes in production, storaging and trading of food and beverages. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an inexpensive, energy efficient and environmentally friendly refrigerant. However, the gas can leak and when in high concentrations, impose risk to life. CO2 is heavier than air, colorless and odorless, which means that it is impossible to control its level without special measurement equipment. R744 refrigerant concentration level must be controlled in accordance with local regulations. To ensure safety of people in CO2 refrigerated facilities, CO2 levels must be monitored in places where potential refrigerant leaks can occur.

Dpstar’s instruments can provide actionable, real-time data on leaks in refrigerators to reduce costs and maintain environmental compliance. They are specialty designed to accurately measure CO2 ­levels in the surrounding atmosphere for a precise readout of personal exposure levels in the user’s immediate space and alert users when the immediate surrounding environment contains hazardous gas levels.

Food Warehousing needs to be regulated at all times to keep products in safe conditions for consumption. If the environment factors in a warehouse become too extreme, food and beverages can be compromised which can lead to making consumers very sick. It is a great decision for warehouses, especially those containing sensitive materials such as food, to invest in environment monitoring. Environment monitoring allows warehouses to stay aware of the conditions of environmental factors. For example, if water is detected in a food warehouse, environment monitoring provides you that information so you can step in and handle the situation before it becomes serious water damage.

It is crucial for certain foods and drinks to stay at specific temperatures, especially perishable foods as the growth rate of potentially harmful bacteria slows down drastically below specific temperatures. The type of food or drink product will determine the storage temperature required:

• Frozen food must be stored at a minimum of 0° F
• Dry food must be stored between 50° and 70° F
• Refrigerator chilled food must be stored between 34° to 39° F

Room Alert can help by monitoring the correct chilled temperatures and by alerting you if your food warehouse loses power for extended periods which allows you to save any foods or drinks that can be negatively impacted through loss of refrigeration. Vaisala’s humidity and temperature transmitter portfolio includes products for measuring various humidity parameters such as relative humidity, dew point, and frost point in wide operating temperature ranges.