If you are wondering about the conditions and duration of food storage in a cold room, you can find the details in this article
Many bacteria continue to multiply by maintaining their life functions between 8 degrees and 63 degrees. The proliferation of bacteria in foods both endangers human health and causes commercial value loss of the stored product.
Many items other than meats, vegetables, and dairy products need to be kept cold. If you’ve neglected to properly refrigerate something, it’s usually best to throw it out.
Let’s start with what is the right temperature for storing frozen food. Ideally, frozen food should be stored at cold store temperatures of -18˚C or lower.
What is a safe food storage fridge temperature? Remember, the law refers to the temperature of the food, not the temperature setting of the cold room. By law, you must store high-risk chilled food at a food temperature of 8°C or below
Cold Room Storage Temperatures for Food: Chart
The charts below give the typical storage temperature, humidity and storage life of common foods. Values from the product data of our cold room calculator, based on USDA Agriculture Handbook 66, UC Davis, FAO and GCCA sources. Storage life depends on the variety, the quality at intake and the packing.
Fruits
| Product | Temperature | Humidity | Storage life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple (Golden) | –1.1 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 3–4 months in air; 8–10 months in controlled atmosphere |
| Apricot | –0.5 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 1–3 weeks |
| Avocado (unripe) | 3–13 °C, by variety | 85–95 % | 2–4 weeks |
| Banana (green) | 13–15 °C | 90–95 % | 1–4 weeks |
| Blackberry | –0.5 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 3–6 days |
| Blueberry | –0.5 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 10–18 days |
| Cherry (sweet) | –1 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 2–4 weeks |
| Coconut | 0–2 °C | 75–85 % | 1–2 months |
| Date | –18 to 0 °C | 70–75 % | 6–12 months |
| Fig (fresh) | –1 to 0 °C | 85–95 % | 7–14 days |
| Grape | –1 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 1–6 months, by variety |
| Grapefruit | 10–15 °C | 85–95 % | 6–8 weeks |
| Kiwi | 0 °C | 90–95 % | 3–5 months |
| Lemon | 7–13 °C | 85–95 % | 1–6 months |
| Mango (mature green) | 10–13 °C | 85–90 % | 2–4 weeks |
| Melon | 2–7 °C | 95 % | 10–14 days |
| Orange | 3–9 °C | 85–95 % | 3–8 weeks |
| Peach, nectarine | –1 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 2–4 weeks |
| Pear | –2 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 2–7 months, by variety |
| Pineapple (ripe) | 7–13 °C | 85–95 % | 7–10 days |
| Plum | –1.1 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 2–5 weeks |
| Pomegranate | 5–10 °C | 90–95 % | 2–3 months |
| Quince | –0.5 to 0 °C | 90 % | 2–3 months |
| Raspberry | –0.5 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 2–6 days |
| Sour cherry | 0 °C | 90–95 % | 3–7 days |
| Strawberry | –0.5 to 0 °C | 90–95 % | 7–10 days |
| Tangerine | 3–8 °C | 85–95 % | 2–4 weeks |
| Watermelon | 10–15 °C | 90 % | 2–3 weeks |
Vegetables
| Product | Temperature | Humidity | Storage life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artichoke | 0 °C | 95–100 % | 2–3 weeks |
| Asparagus | 0–2.5 °C | 95–100 % | 2–3 weeks |
| Aubergine | 10–12 °C | 90–95 % | 1–2 weeks |
| Beetroot | 0–2 °C | 98–100 % | 4–10 months |
| Broccoli | 0 °C | 95–100 % | 10–21 days |
| Brussels sprouts | 0 °C | 95–100 % | 3–5 weeks |
| Cabbage | 0 °C | 95–100 % | 3–6 weeks early crop; 5–6 months late crop |
| Carrot (topped) | 0–1 °C | 98–100 % | 3–9 months |
| Cauliflower | 0 °C | 95–98 % | 3–4 weeks |
| Celery; celeriac | 0–2 °C | 95–100 % | 5–8 weeks; celeriac 6–8 months |
| Cucumber | 10–12.5 °C | 85–95 % | 10–14 days |
| French beans | 4–7.5 °C | 95–100 % | 7–12 days |
| Garlic (dry) | –1 to 0 °C | 60–70 % | 6–9 months and more |
| Leek | 0 °C | 95–100 % | 2–3 months |
| Lettuce | 0–1 °C | 98–100 % | 2–3 weeks |
| Mushroom | 0–1 °C | 90–95 % | 7–14 days |
| Onion (dry) | 0 °C | 65–75 % | 1–9 months |
| Peas (green) | 0 °C | 90–98 % | 1–2 weeks |
| Pepper (green) | 7–13 °C | 90–98 % | 2–3 weeks |
| Potato (late crop, cured) | 4–10 °C | 95–99 % | 5–10 months |
| Potato (early) | 10–15 °C | 90–95 % | 10–14 days |
| Pumpkin | 10–15 °C | 50–70 % | 2–3 months |
| Spinach | 0 °C | 95–100 % | 10–14 days |
| Sweet corn | 0 °C | 95–98 % | 5–8 days |
| Sweet potato | 13–15 °C | 85–95 % | 4–7 months |
| Tomato (mature green) | 10–21 °C | 90–95 % | 2–5 weeks |
| Tomato (firm ripe) | 7–10 °C | 85–90 % | 1–3 weeks |
| Zucchini | 5–10 °C | 95 % | 1–2 weeks |
Meat, Fish, Dairy and Eggs
| Product | Temperature | Humidity | Storage life |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beef (fresh) | –2 to 0 °C | 85–90 % | 1–3 weeks in air; about 40 days vacuum-packed |
| Veal, lamb (fresh) | 1–2 °C | 85–90 % | 7–10 days unpacked |
| Pork (fresh) | 0–1 °C | 85–90 % | 7–10 days unpacked |
| Minced meat | –2.2 to –1.1 °C | – | 3–5 days unpacked |
| Chicken, turkey (fresh) | –2 to 4.4 °C | 95–100 % | About 1 week at 0 °C |
| Fresh fish | 0–4 °C, best 0 °C in ice | – | 1–2 weeks, by species |
| Shrimp (fresh) | 0–6 °C | – | Up to 5 days |
| Milk (pasteurised) | 2–4 °C | – | 15–23 days at 7 °C; longer when colder |
| Yogurt | 2–4.4 °C | – | 35–45 days |
| Cheese | 0–4 °C | 65 % | 2–12 months, by type |
| Butter | 0 °C | 70–75 % | Up to 1 month |
| Eggs | –2 to –0.6 °C | 85–92 % | 5–6 months at about –1 °C |
Frozen Food
| Product | Temperature | Storage life |
|---|---|---|
| Beef, lamb | –18 °C or colder | 12 months at –18 °C; 18 months at –29 °C (vacuum-packed) |
| Pork | –18 °C or colder | 8 months at –18 °C; 10 months at –29 °C (vacuum-packed) |
| Chicken, turkey | –18 °C or colder | About 12 months |
| Fish | –18 °C or colder | Lean fish 8–12 months, fatty fish 4–10 months; about twice as long at –23 °C or colder |
| Shellfish | –18 °C or colder | 4–13 months, by species and packing |
| Vegetables, fruit | –18 °C or colder | More than 12 months for most products |
| Ice cream | –32 to –26 °C | Up to 5 months |
| Bread (packaged) | –20 to –18 °C | 2–3 months |
How to Use the Chart
- Chilling-sensitive produce: bananas, mangoes, avocados, cucumbers, aubergines, peppers and tomatoes are damaged below their range, so they need a different room from produce kept near 0 °C.
- Frozen food: should go into the store already frozen; product that arrives fresh goes through a blast freezer first.
- Room size and cooling load: our cold room calculator covers more than 100 products; see also cold storage of fruit and vegetables.
