Vitsab, a labeling company with U.S. operations based in Winslow, Maine, will introduce a time temperature label at Seafood Expo North America 2016, taking place in Boston 6 to 8 March.
Vitsab’s new label, the Shellstock TTI (time temperature indicator), monitors the cold chain from harvest to consumption and offers a clear indication of temperature control to indicate seafood shipments are safe from botulism and vibrio contamination, said Jeff Desrosiers, Vitsab’s director of business development, in a press release.
The new product builds off the successful technology introduced in Vitsab’s L5-8 Seafood TTI-Label. It uses a visual “stop-light” indicator to indicate a package’s safety status, with green meaning the shipment remains under proper temperature, yellow signifying the product is still safe is appropriate temperature is maintained, and red warning the recipient that the package may be unsafe.
Vitsab worked over two years with the federal government and the government of Connecticut to design the technology in the new labeling system. The new labeling system is designed to save companies that ship seafood on the expense of returns and refunds, as they now have validation their products have been shipped under suitable temperatures, Desrosiers said.