Insulated bag is an alternative use for supermarkets to control cool temperature management and strawberry deterioration from supermarket to household

The issue of temperature control or maintenance for perishable fresh produce is an important area and particularly so with highly perishable products such as strawberries. Much of the research and investigation on cool chain stops at the retail outlet and there are very limited studies of the ?last mile? between the retail outlet and the consumer domestic fridge. This study looks at the typical temperature of ?Elsanta? strawberries at the time of purchase in the UK supermarkets and then the temperature rise of both the flesh and the air within the punnet under different temperature scenarios. Results from this study showed that the range of mean flesh temperature at purchase from 6 supermarkets was 6.3 to 13.0?C during a-10 week retail display period. Three temperature scenarios were simulated from 5 to 10?C, 5 to 15?C, and 10 to 30?C. A single punnet of ?Elsanta? strawberries was put in a supermarket plastic bag (High Density Polyethylene) or within the light weight insulated bags (LIB-White or LIB-Reflective). The physical and mechanical characteristics of three materials were measured for thickness, tensile strength, percent elongation, and water vapor transmission rate. The insulated bags used kept pre chilled-strawberries and delayed the increase of air and flesh temperature by about 20% and 10% within 3 h when compared to control (noncover). This study showed that the insulated bag is an alternative use for supermarkets to control cool temperature management and strawberry deterioration from supermarket to household. Original title, complete list of authors and sourcesUse of insulated bag from supermarket to maintain ?Elsanta? strawberry temperatureS. Chaiwong1,2, C.F.H. Bishop11Writtle College, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 3RR, United Kingdom2School of Agro-Industry, Mae Fah Luang University 333 Moo. 1, Tasud, Muang, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand V Postharvest Unlimited, ISHS International Conference, 10-13 June 2014, Cyprus, http://web.cut.ac.cy/postharvest/ The picture is by www.tao-bao.es