2. Cold chain

2.1 Definitions

The reader is invited to refer to [Doc. F 3 230], for the exact references of the main French, European and international regulations in the field of the cold chain [3] .

Regulations (the "distribution" decree of May 9, 1995) stipulate that "raw materials, ingredients and intermediate products, and finished products up to their presentation to the consumer, must be kept at temperatures which limit their deterioration and, more particularly, the development of pathogenic micro-organisms or the formation of toxins at levels likely to entail a risk for the consumer".

As already mentioned, the cold chain concerns two main categories of perishable products: chilled...