Temperature alarm prevents seafood market from selling something “fishy”

CAS DataLoggers has supplied the temperature alarm solution for a fish market selling fresh catches of fish and shellfish, as well as sashimi and sushi rolled onsite.
Strict temperature control is the most effective way to slow bacterial growth and maintain seafood quality. All fresh seafood in each display case has to be routinely temperature-checked throughout the day to ensure it’s safe to sell.
Every morning, the vendor thaws out the fish and puts it out on thick ice in covered display cases. For the freshest taste and to prevent health risks, the unpackaged fish has to be continually kept at 29° to 32° F. Higher temperatures cause rapid bacteria growth that is the main case of spoilage, so an increase of less than 10 degrees F can make the fish spoil twice as fast and drastically shorten shelf life.
Workers used to rely on small glass thermometers but had to move closer and squint to check the numbers. The owner wanted a quick and easy way to do a temperature check for all cases and also needed alarm functionality since only a few people were manning the counter.
CAS DataLoggers provided I-Plug Plus USB temperature data loggers as an effective standalone system. Each portable data logger continually records food temperature via internal sensor at a range of –22° to 158° F (–30° to +70° C). Workers start each logger with the press of a button, while bright LEDs show temperature status at a glance. Temperature recorders have a sensor response time of 90 seconds. The I-Plugs are also equipped with a smart stop button that sets them to bookmark readings but keeps them recording until stopped or until the memory is full.
It’s easy to sterilize the included pouches and place temperature loggers in the display cases to get accurate readings. The dataloggers can operate without any issues at low temperatures, giving workers an easy way to conduct seafood inspections on the fly. The data loggers show a bright red alarm light when the selectable temperature range goes too high over a certain period of time, and other status lights show whenever product temperatures are OK or Under.
Each I-Plug Plus logger has a 5,000-sample memory and battery life of a year. Sampling rate is user-selectable. This way the vendor can instantly recognize and throw out any product that has started to go bad.
Data loggers are recyclable with a one-year warranty and also include free software as an online download. An optional online calibration certificate is available that’s especially convenient for food industry applications.
For more information, visit www.DataLoggerInc.com.