What does a cold chain compliance check show?
A cold chain compliance check answers one question at delivery: did the load stay within the temperature range its product requires for the whole trip? If it did not, the next questions are by how much, for how long and what happens to the product.
This cold chain compliance checker compares every reading with the minimum and maximum for the product type, adds up the minutes out of range, finds the largest deviation and lists the readings that breached the range. It then gives one of three results:
- Pass: no reading outside the range, the compartment was in range at loading and the readings have no gaps.
- Review: the load left the range but stayed within your tolerance and allowed minutes, or the loading temperature or the data needs a look. Record it and get a decision.
- Fail: a reading went past a limit by more than the tolerance, or the total time out of range is longer than allowed. Hold the load until the product owner decides.
What temperatures does SFDA require for food transport?
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) sets temperature requirements for food transport vehicles in its General Requirements for Food Transport. As of October 2026, the published document states:
| Requirement | SFDA text (summary) | Preset in this tool |
|---|---|---|
| Refrigerated containers | Keep food between 1.5 and 10 °C, depending on the product (fruit and vegetables are kept above 10 °C, and some products have their own limits) | Chilled food (general): 1.5 to 10 °C |
| Frozen food | Maximum −18 °C | Frozen food: −18 °C or colder, no lower limit |
| Chilled dairy: milk, laban, yogurt, labneh, cream, butter, unripened cheese | Not above 5 °C | Chilled dairy, meat and poultry: up to 5 °C |
| Chilled red meat, white meat and poultry | Not above 5 °C | Same preset |
| Fresh fish and crustaceans, packed or unpacked | Not above 0 °C | Fresh fish and seafood: up to 0 °C |
| Before loading | Set the refrigerated container to a maximum of 10 °C long enough before loading | Compartment temperature at loading |
| Monitoring | A thermometer readable from outside the load space, and refrigerator and freezer readings recorded continuously | Readings table |
For medicines, the SFDA Guideline of Good Storage and Distribution Practices (GSDP, version 2.1, updated February 2024) requires storage conditions to stay within acceptable limits during transport, temperature and humidity to be measured by calibrated devices from dispatch to arrival, deviations to be reported and investigated, and records to be kept for the product's shelf life plus one year. It does not set one range for all medicines. The 2 to 8 °C preset reflects a common label condition; the manufacturer's storage conditions apply.
What SFDA does not set here: the temperature tolerance, the allowed minutes out of range and the 0 °C lower limit for dairy and meat are defaults in this tool, not SFDA figures. Replace them with your quality procedure or your customer's terms. Requirements change, so check the current SFDA documents and the product's own conditions before you rely on any preset. This tool is not legal or regulatory advice.
What data do you need for a cold chain check?
| Input | Where to find it | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Product type and range | Product label, customer specification, SFDA requirements | Choose a preset, then edit the limits to match the product. |
| Temperature readings | Data logger export, reefer unit download, telematics temperature report | Use one sensor for the whole trip, ideally in the load space. |
| Tolerance and allowed minutes | Quality procedure or customer contract | If nothing is agreed, set both to 0 so any excursion goes to review or fail. |
| Compartment temperature at loading | Pre-cooling record, or the last reading before the doors opened | Record it before loading starts. |
| Summary figures | Logger summary page or delivery record | Use them only when the full readings are not available. |
How is the cold chain compliance result calculated?
Minutes out of range
Deviation
Result
The typical interval is the median time between readings. A gap is an interval longer than twice the typical interval and longer than 30 minutes. Times that pass midnight move to the next day; for trips over several days, enter the date with the time.
Worked example: a chilled dairy delivery
A van carries chilled dairy with a range of 0 to 5 °C, a tolerance of 1 °C and 30 allowed minutes out of range. The compartment was at 4.0 °C at loading. The logger recorded 13 readings every 15 minutes from 08:00 to 11:00.
- Three readings were above 5 °C: 5.6 °C at 08:45, 6.3 °C at 09:00 and 5.2 °C at 09:15. Each counts 15 minutes, so the load was out of range for 3 × 15 = 45 minutes, all in one excursion.
- The largest deviation is 6.3 − 5 = 1.3 °C, at 09:00. Only that reading is beyond the tolerance; the other two are within it.
- 1.3 °C is more than the 1 °C tolerance, and 45 minutes is more than the 30 allowed, so the result is Fail on both counts.
- On the summary tab, a different load with a lowest reading of 3.2 °C, a highest of 5.6 °C and 20 minutes out of range gives Review: the 0.6 °C deviation and the 20 minutes are both within the limits, but the excursion still needs a record and a decision.
What to do after each result
- Pass: keep the readings and the result with the delivery documents.
- Review: record the excursion, its cause and the action taken. The receiver or product owner decides whether to accept the load.
- Fail: keep the load apart and do not sell or use it until the product owner or quality team decides. Find the cause before the vehicle runs the next load.
- Medicines: report the deviation and contact the manufacturer or marketing authorization holder, as SFDA GSDP requires.
Common cold chain compliance mistakes
- Checking the setpoint instead of readings. The setpoint is what the unit was asked to hold, not what the load experienced.
- Ignoring the lower limit. Freezing can damage chilled food and medicines. Set a minimum where the product needs one.
- Long reading intervals. Readings every 30 minutes cannot show a 10-minute spike, and each reading counts for its whole interval.
- Loading a warm compartment. A unit that was not pre-cooled spends the first part of the trip pulling the temperature down.
- Treating the tolerance as permission. A reading within the tolerance is still out of range and still needs a record.
- Mixing sensors. Readings from different compartments or probes in one list give a false picture. Check each compartment on its own.
Assumptions and limits
The result depends on the readings and limits you enter. Each reading is treated as valid until the next one, so the result is only as precise as the reading interval. The checker does not read sensors, check calibration or judge product safety: Review and Fail are prompts for a decision by the product owner or quality team, not that decision. SFDA requirements are summarized from the documents linked above as of October 2026. Verify the current requirements before relying on them. This is not legal or regulatory advice.