Transporting food safely is crucial to maintaining its quality, ensuring compliance with food safety regulations, and protecting public health. Whether you’re a restaurant owner, caterer, or food manufacturer, understanding the essentials of food transportation can help you avoid costly mistakes and ensure that your products arrive in the best condition. As food transportation experts, Kings Transport can help you better understand key safety guidelines, legal requirements, and practical tips for transporting food safely and efficiently.
How Kings Transport ensures safe food transportation
At Kings, we offer tailored logistics solutions designed to meet the specific needs of food distribution. From our real time tracking service that provides accurate arrival estimations, our next day, timed, weekend, and even out of hours delivery options across the UK and Europe, as well as a bespoke food storage safety plan that we create to specifically meet your needs for safe and efficient food transportation. You can rely on us to support, guide and manage your transportation of food, every time.
Food safety during transportation
When it comes to safe and proper transportation of food there’s a few things to consider and these considerations are items that Kings Transport can help support with, including:
1. Maintain proper temperature
- Cold foods – Keep perishable items like dairy, meat, and seafood at or below 5°C to prevent bacterial growth. Here at Kings Transport, we use refrigerated transport and food warehouses to ensure perishable goods remain under tightly regulated conditions
- Hot foods – Hot foods should be kept at or above 63°C. Insulated containers or heated units are essential for maintaining this temperature during transit
- Temperature monitoring – Use temperature logs or digital systems to track temperatures. We provide vehicles equipped with temperature control systems ranging from 30°C to -25°C to keep your food safe
2. Prevent cross contamination
- Separation – Always separate raw foods from ready to eat foods to prevent cross contamination. Use dedicated containers and storage for different food types
- Cleanliness – Ensure vehicles and containers are cleaned and sanitised before each use
- Packaging – Use food grade, durable packaging to protect products from contamination and physical damage
3. Compliance with legal requirements
- Regulations – For safe transportation of food, it’s essential to follow regulations like the EU Food Hygiene Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and the UK’s Food Safety Act 1990 for food transport
- Documentation – Keep records of temperature logs, cleaning schedules, and incidents for compliance audits
- Training – Ensure staff are trained in food safety practices and legal requirements
Practical tips for safe food transportation
1. Invest in quality equipment
- Vehicles – We recommend using refrigerated or temperature-controlled vehicles for perishable items. As part of our food transportation services, we provide ambient and chilled transport solutions designed to maintain optimal conditions
- Containers – Insulated, leak-proof containers are vital for maintaining temperature and preventing spills
2. Plan efficient routes
- Minimise time – Plan routes to reduce transit time, lowering the risk of temperature fluctuations
- Monitor traffic – Keep track of traffic conditions and plan for delays to maintain food safety
3. Implement a food safety management system
- HACCP – Adopt a HACCP system to manage food safety hazards during transportation
- Regular audits – Conduct regular audits to ensure your transportation practices meet safety standards
Transporting food safely is essential for maintaining quality, complying with legal requirements, and protecting public health. If you’re in need of food transportation services, get in touch with us or learn more about how we can support your food distribution needs, here.
