| We rely heavily on every appliance we have in our | | | | consumable, there is a difference between the two |
| homes, and depend on them to provide us with | | | | methods of preservation. When we refer to cold |
| easy, convenient living. However, a refrigerator is by | | | | storage oftentimes we are referencing a large |
| far one of the most important pieces of equipment | | | | warehouse operated cold storage facility. These |
| used on a daily basis. These appliances have become | | | | warehouses house enormous refrigerated units. Large |
| so commonplace, it is easy to forget that a | | | | manufacturing and distributing companies use cold |
| refrigerator was once a box outside our home with a | | | | storage warehouses to safely house their products. |
| few slabs of ice inside, used to keep our milk and | | | | The type of cold storage unit used depends on the |
| other perishables cold and safe to consume. | | | | foods or products which it holds. Large cold storage |
| The evolution of refrigeration and cold storage dates | | | | units that remain at lower temperatures house |
| as far back as prehistoric times. Cavemen began to | | | | anything from vegetables to pharmaceuticals to |
| realize that the food they caught was best | | | | wood. Cooler temperatures are used to store frozen |
| preserved when stored in caves or packed ice. Later | | | | products, and are also utilized in medical laboratories |
| on, in the warmer months of the year, when there | | | | to safely store specimens and other medical samples. |
| was a lack of snow and cool temperatures, ice was | | | | Refrigeration and cold storage are collective terms |
| harvested from lakes and rivers to keep food | | | | for keeping foods cool. When we refer to the term |
| consumable. New York was the first state to ship ice | | | | refrigeration, we are referencing a refrigerator which |
| to locations for this purpose; however, oftentimes it | | | | in most cases should remain at 40 degrees. |
| was no longer ice once the shipment arrived. Later, | | | | Refrigerated systems were designed to slow |
| chemicals like sodium and potassium nitrate were | | | | bacterial growth. Pathogenic and spoilage bacteria are |
| introduced to help food keep cool temperatures. | | | | the two main types of growth that form in |
| Once the essentials of refrigeration were | | | | perishable foods. The first causes food-borne |
| distinguished, breweries and meat-packing industries | | | | illnesses; the second makes our food go bad. With so |
| were the first to utilize the new and astonishing way | | | | many types of bacteria having the ability to |
| of maintaining a product's desired temperature. These | | | | contaminate our food, it is no wonder we depend on |
| industries installed compressing machines at their | | | | refrigeration everyday. Think of the frustration one |
| plants - the latest way of removing heat from a | | | | encounters in a power outage-all the food kept |
| substance, thus keeping perishables safe to consume. | | | | refrigerated may not last. We oftentimes rush to the |
| We certainly have come a long way since these days | | | | convenient store, buying multiple bags of ice, and |
| of experimental refrigeration. | | | | locate every single cooler we can find. Ironically |
| We probably don't realize how important refrigeration | | | | enough, this is how refrigeration was born, and goes |
| and cold storage are to our daily lives. While we | | | | to show just how much we depend on such an |
| depend on both to keep our foods safe and | | | | important everyday appliance. |