Woking, England-headquartered Nomad Foods, the company behind numerous retail frozen food brands in Europe, including Birds Eye, Findus, Goodfella’s, iglo, Aunt Bessie’s, Ledo and Frikom, on June 26 announced the results of its 18-month study exploring if frozen food storage temperatures can be increased, leading to significant carbon emission reductions and cost savings, without impacting product safety or quality.
The conclusion, reached with leading food science and technology organization Campden BRI, builds upon the previously announced 12-month results and add further weight to the suggestion that storing frozen food at -15°C, instead of the industry standard -18°C (zero degrees Fahrenheit) can reduce freezer energy consumption by 10-11%, without any noticeable impact on the safety, texture, taste or nutritional value of a product.
Nine savory frozen products are included in the study: poultry, coated fish, natural fish, vegetables, plant-based foods and pizza. Four temperatures (ranging from -18°C up to -9°C) and eight key areas including food safety, texture, nutrition, energy use and packaging impact were tested. Results after eighteen months showed no significant change to the products at -15°C versus -18°C, unless those products had passed their Best Before Date, where a drop in Vitamin C for some vegetable products could then be seen.
Options for the study to be peer reviewed are now being explored.
Nomad Foods is also the first food manufacturer to sign up to Move to -15°C, an industry coalition launched at COP28 and dedicated to cutting carbon emissions in the frozen food supply chain. Recognizing that a shift in frozen storage temperatures requires industry-wide collaboration, Nomad Foods’ Chief Executive Officer Stéfan Descheemaeker is now calling on other frozen manufacturers to join the movement.
“We already know that frozen food compares very well against alternative preservation methods in terms of carbon footprint,” he stated. “The latest results of our study with Campden BRI underlines the critical role frozen food has in reducing the impact of the wider food industry on climate change.”
“However,” he added, “we can’t do this alone, which is why we are calling on other frozen food manufacturers to join us and the Move to -15°C coalition to ensure the full breadth of products within the frozen category are tested at higher temperatures.”
Nomad Foods published an industry leading life cycle analysis of its leading frozen food products in 2022 which showed that frozen food performs very well against alternatives in terms of carbon footprint, partly due to much lower levels of food waste.
