Industry & Policy Recommendations for Safe Home Delivery

In our previous post about home delivery, we looked at some of the reasons for the growth of home delivery service and the common food safety challenges associated with it.

In this post, we will take a deeper look at both policy and industry recommendations regarding four key food safety concerns:

• Temperature monitoring
• Food safety information and labeling
• Packaging and transportation environments
• Customer support

The Sabert Study

In 2015, Sabert, a leading global manufacturer of innovative food packaging solutions, conducted a study to evaluate the current state of food delivery. They wanted to assess how food retailers and restaurants performed in three distinct categories of delivery service—food packaging, delivery service, and food quality. The results indicated that a majority of food providers consistently fall short on even the most basic delivery processes. The major problems included:

• The placement of hot and cold foods in close proximity
• Partially filled packaging and inappropriate packaging per food type
• Inaccurate delivery estimates
• Unbranded packaging and delivery materials

As home delivery trends continue to rise, it’s becoming clearer that packaging and service quality can impact the overall delivery experience as much as, or even sometimes more than, the food quality itself.

Let’s take a look at some key industry and policy recommendations to the problems identified by the Sabert study.

Recommendations: Temperature Monitoring

It’s crucial to keep food out of the ‘danger zone’ while it’s in transit to your consumers. While proper packaging is important to ensure goods are protected, the unfortunate truth is that packaging isn’t foolproof, and transit conditions could be unsafe for food. The delivery truck may have a constant temperature fluctuation, causing the foods to defrost and refreeze. But, when it gets to the consumer, the food could seem completely safe. Based on a study which was presented at the 2017 Food Safety Summit, arrival temperatures ranged from -23°F to 75°F, which is alarming. How are consumers supposed to trust that their food remained at a safe temperature throughout the delivery process?

To ensure that food remains within a safe temperature range, utilize a remote, continuous temperature monitoring system. By deploying continuous monitoring, you can see when the temperature fluctuates not only within the truck, but within the package itself. You can monitor the data to ensure that the package arriving to your clients is safe to consume and if there is an out-of-range reading.

Once you and your team gather data about temperature during transit, you can make appropriate, proactive changes to your food safety plan.

Recommendations: Appropriate Packaging & Transportation Environments

When shipping products, always anticipate potential worst-case conditions. When it comes to shipping perishables, keep in mind that there may be transit delays, extreme temperatures during transit, or that the packages may not be opened by the consumer for potentially eight hours after delivery.

Ensure that shipping containers, packing materials, and coolants are sufficient to keep the product within a safe temperature range throughout transit.

• Choose containers of a suitable size, avoiding a lot of extra space. The best packaging containers are made of foam or heavy corrugated cardboard. Fill any empty spaces with packing materials.
• Use appropriate packing materials to protect the contents from being damaged and to reduce the amount of air that needs to be cooled.
• Chill or freeze the products before packing.
  
  

Calculate the type and amount of coolant necessary. Gel packs are not recommended as they perform poorly when compared to other coolants. Also, make sure that the coolants are placed in the container properly before being shipped to the consumer.

Recommendations: Food Safety Information & Labeling

Information concerning the proper handling of perishable food products should be marked clearly on the package. Make sure all items and the outer package are clearly labeled "Keep Refrigerated" to alert the recipient.

If using dry ice as a coolant, don't let it come in direct contact with food. Be sure to include handling instructions for the consumer on both the outside and inside of the shipping container. Warn your consumer that you’ve used dry ice by labeling "Contains Dry Ice" clearly on the outside of the box.

Food safety information should be easy to find on your company website. It should be accessible from the homepage and regularly updated to ensure accuracy.

Recommendations: Strong Customer Support

Urge consumers to contact your company if they have any questions or concerns about the products they’ve received. Provide a toll-free phone number that is easy to locate both in the delivery materials and on your company website.

Develop reasonable reimbursement policies. Make them clear and easy to follow.

Policy Recommendations

In addition to industry recommendations, government regulations are often necessary to ensure compliance and enforcement. For this reason, online vendors of perishable products ideally should be required to:

• Deploy a continuous temperature monitoring system. Add sensors to packages as well as delivery trucks to keep track of incidents when contents exceed safe temperatures 

• Pass an online course on best packaging practices, including the proper amount and type of coolants that should be added to packages 

• Provide accurate food safety information along with their shipments

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