Refrigeration and cold chain serving the global food industry and creating a better future: two key IIR challenges for improved health and environment

doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2008.03.006

Trends in Food Science & Technology

Volume 19, Issue 8, August 2008, Pages 413-417

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2008.03.006 Get rights and content

Refrigeration meets special needs, with special markets for refrigerated or frozen foods, but is also necessary for health, avoiding diseases and deaths. And health is one of the most important issues in Europe, because of the ageing of the population. Refrigeration is also partly responsible for ozone depletion and global warming. The sector will continue to expand. But we need more research, in order to reduce its impact on the environment and simultaneously to maintain a high level of safety in the cold chain. The regulations in the sector will be reinforced and we have to be prepared.

Introduction

The International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) is an intergovernmental organization. It brings together 61 countries, which represent 80% of the global population, including Bulgaria and most other European countries. The IIR's mission is to promote and disseminate knowledge of refrigeration technology and all its applications.

Today, refrigeration is increasingly important in the food field: it preserves the safety of foods and makes it possible to prepare specific types of foods that are increasingly in demand because they meet the needs of today's lifestyles (prepared foods, ice cream…). Although food represents a little under half the current uses of refrigeration, it is the largest application sector and equipment used in the cold chain that is constantly expanding. For instance, there are now about 1 billion domestic refrigerators worldwide and this is twice as many as 12 years ago.

Refrigeration is a useful and now widespread means of preserving the quality of foodstuffs and thus protecting consumer health, but requires accurate control of the cold chain, from the producer to the consumer, something that is still lacking in some cases, even though health is a major public issue.

We are now faced with another challenge: the environment. Refrigeration is partially responsible for ozone depletion and global warming, because of the refrigerants used and the energy consumption of refrigerating equipment. Environmental issues will bring about major changes in the design of refrigerating equipment throughout the cold chain.

In this paper, I will present the stakes in the refrigeration sector and thus in the food field, in terms of health and the environment, along with the International Institute of Refrigeration's actions in these domains.

Section snippets

The health challenge

The main role of refrigeration is to preserve foodstuffs, prepared to some or to a great extent, and to therefore reduce losses during processing, storage, transport and sale of foodstuffs. It is vital to ensure that enough food is available to everyone. This is far from the case today, although the situation is gradually improving if one takes into account growth in the global population. This situation differs widely from one continent to another and from one country to another. However, the

The environmental challenge

The use of refrigeration in the food sector and in air conditioning, health products or liquefaction of gases, is expanding and will continue to expand in coming years: it meets the needs of the population. However, this compounds environmental issues.

Most existing refrigerating equipment is based on the compression and expansion of a refrigerant. The efficiency of the system and its application at the desired refrigerating temperature are closely related to the thermophysical properties of the

Conclusion

Refrigeration is vital to human health, particularly because of its role in the food field. Its use will continue to expand but will have to comply with increasingly stringent health and environmental constraints. These constraints will take the form of more numerous stringent regulations and objectives in terms of efficiency and reliability, and are made all the more necessary by scientific and technical progress, quality improvement and sharing of reliable, homogeneous information worldwide.

References (3)

FAO
La situation mondiale de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture
(2005)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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ReviewRefrigeration and cold chain serving the global food industry and creating a better future: two key IIR challenges for improved health and environment

Introduction

Section snippets

The health challenge

The environmental challenge

Conclusion

La situation mondiale de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture

Review
Refrigeration and cold chain serving the global food industry and creating a better future: two key IIR challenges for improved health and environment