New publication: The Food Cold-Chain and Climate Change 2
New publication: The Food Cold-Chain and Climate Change 2
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Our review paper on the relationship between the food cold-chain and climate change for Food Research International, previously available electronically in pre-published form, has just been published.
In this comprehensive review we consider and discuss in detail:
1.What will be the effect of climatic change, especially the predicted increase in average world temperature, on the cold-chain?
2.How much does the cold-chain, and potential changes to it, contribute to climatic change, especially an increase in world temperature?
Any noticeable increase in ambient temperature resulting from climatic change will have a substantial effect on the current and developing food cold-chain. A rise in temperature will increase the risk of food poisoning and food spoilage unless the cold-chain is extended and improved. The little data that is available suggests that currently the cold-chain accounts for approximately 1% of CO2 production in the world, however this is likely to increase if global temperatures increase significantly. Using the most energy efficient refrigeration technologies it would be possible to substantially extend and improve the cold-chain without any increase in CO2, and possibly even a decrease.