Supply chains, mainly in the cold chain , must be thoroughly verified so that there is no error, disruption, or, where appropriate, that the products arrive in poor condition, according to Hilda López, senior head of Commercial & Demand planning at Fair .
Within the framework of Fábrica de Negocio , organized by GS1 México , at the conference The importance of the cold chain and last mile in small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) , the specialist highlighted the importance of the cold chain and its risks in people’s health.
“We must guarantee that our products, from production, storage, until we deliver them, are safe to consume, to use or for their intended purpose,” he said.
In this sense, he mentioned that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) , in the world at least 600 million people a year suffer from food-related diseases , in addition to there being around 200 types of diseases that can be caused by food. transmitted through food.
In addition, he stressed that the temperature must be controlled at each step of its supply chain , from raw materials, processing, distribution in each link, storage and the consumer himself is also part of this chain and must know how to manage it correctly. or know which products are safe to consume.
Thus, he assured that within the cold chain there is a “cushion” of time so that it does not break completely, so “ 20 minutes is the most we can have a product outside without damaging this chain ,” he assured.
“Something we don’t pay much attention to in supply chains is that once a product is thawed, it can’t be frozen again,” he added.
For this reason, he explained to SMEs that there are different standards and certifications that help carry out the cold chain successfully, for example, NOM 251 .
This standard dictates, for example, a temperature standard at which a product must be maintained, mainly so that this temperature is not modified at each step of the chain, so in refrigerated products it must be between 0 to 4°C ( exceptions up to 7 °C); while in frozen it must be -18°C or lower.
In addition, Hilda López shared a list of good practices in the last mile that Jüsto uses to share with its transportation suppliers, in which not exposing the product outside its temperature prevails.
Likewise, it recommends some points for transportation in the vehicle, for example, keeping doors closed, the use of thermographs, good air circulation, etc.
In addition, the Jüsto board highlighted that it is vital to train and raise awareness among all actors in the chain about the importance of temperature and how not to break it.
“It is very important that all the people who work with us know the importance of the cold chain,” said Hilda López.
For this reason, he mentioned that at Jüsto they work with many SMEs and help professionalize them in this area, including providing them with technology to verify that the cold chain is maintained at all times.
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