---
id: KB-CS-031
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/use-cases-by-sector/cold-chain-breaks-what-to-record-and-when-to-report
idioma: en
categoria: casos-por-sector
subcategoria: frio
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CS-028, KB-LG-007]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-014, KB-AL-019]
---

# Cold chain breaks: what to record and when to report

_Half an hour out of range may be nothing or everything. What decides it is what was recorded._

**Responde a:** cold chain break what to do · temperature records in transport · temperature deviation incident · when to discard chilled product

A temperature deviation is not automatically lost product. It can be a badly placed sensor, a door open during unloading, or a real problem. The difference between scrapping a lorry and not scrapping it is almost always the quality of the record, not the deviation.

## What you must be able to show

| Element | Why |
| --- | --- |
| The full curve, not the peak | Half an hour at 9 degrees is not eight hours |
| Where the sensor was | A sensor by the door measures something else |
| What was done on detection | The reaction weighs as much as the reading |
| And who decided what | With a name and a time, not "it was decided" |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The third and fourth are forgotten and are exactly what gets asked for. A temperature record with no decision attached proves there was a deviation and does not prove you managed it — which is what gets judged afterwards.

## The protocol in the moment

1. **Log the incident as soon as it is detected** — With the real time. Writing it up at day's end already costs credibility.
2. **Photograph what you can see** — The display, the goods, the seal. With a provable date.
3. **Segregate the affected product** — Identified, until someone decides. Not in the same place as the rest.
4. **And decide against written criteria, not from memory** — With criteria written in advance, the decision takes minutes and is defensible.

> [!WARNING]
> The costliest mistake is waiting for full information before recording. Record what you know with the time it happened, and expand later. A record created three days after is worth far less even saying exactly the same.

## When to notify outside

**En corto**

- The customer, if the product already left for them.
- The authority, if the product could reach consumption and there is risk.
- And the supplier or carrier, always: it is what supports the claim.

Windows for the last are short and run from delivery. So the incident should reach whoever claims the same day, not when someone reviews the paperwork.

> [!NOTE]
> This fits batch traceability: the incident is recorded against the affected batch, not loose. If you later need to narrow what left and where to, it is already linked.

**What if the carrier keeps the record?**

Request it and keep your own copy: in a claim, their record is their version.

**Is a photo of the display enough?**

As support yes; the continuous record is what proves duration.

**Keep all records or only incidents?**

All. Without the normal you cannot show that one was an exception.

## Ejemplos

**A warehouse detects a two-hour deviation in a chiller.**

- Logs the incident with the real time and photos
- Segregates the batch and applies the written criteria

→ Releases most of the product with a documented decision, instead of scrapping it all as a precaution.

**A cold-chain break is spotted at unloading and nobody knows how long it was out of range.**

- Records temperature at every handover, not only in transit
- Notes the incident at the moment of receipt
- Alerts whoever must decide before accepting the goods

→ The decision to accept or reject is taken with data and in the moment, not three days later.

**Goods out of range are accepted and a claim follows.**

- Records the incident on receipt

→ The acceptance is explained and the claim holds up.

**The log lives in the lorry's unit and never arrives.**

- Collects the log on completing the job

→ The proof reaches the file.

**There is a dispute about which leg broke it.**

- Compares the records of both handovers

→ The dispute closes on data.

**Nobody knows how many breaks there were this quarter.**

- Checks incidents by period and by route

→ The pattern shows and the cause gets tackled.

**The client is warned late and has already sold the product.**

- Warns as soon as it is detected

→ The client can decide while they still can.

**The incident is noted in a notebook in the warehouse.**

- Records it in the shipment's file

→ The record outlives the notebook.