Timestrip launches freeze indicator

Smart label innovator Timestrip has launched iStrip, a freeze indicator which is small and inexpensive enough to be built into product packaging.

iStrip works by recording the presence of very low temperatures with an irreversible color change, typically from red to colorless. The nominal freeze point is 0˚C but iStrip can be manufactured with a freeze point to match that of the product to which it is applied.

iStrip is made up of a patented liquid formulation, encapsulated in a label or blister pack. Because the volume of liquid needed to present a visual color change is very small, the indicator can be manufactured as a two-dimensional label, suitable for standard label application techniques. The market for this technology is potentially huge: many industries have ‘cool’ supply chains, where products must be prevented from dropping below a set temperature during shipping and storage. The effects of such a drop in temperature can do more than spoil the product – where items such as live vaccines are concerned, a drop to freezing temperatures will render the vaccine ineffectual and could put lives at risk.

Current freeze indicators are too expensive for individual application and so are mostly applied to whole cases only: as temperatures can range greatly within a case, this method of measurement is not satisfactory. iStrip is small enough and cost-effective enough to be applied to individual products or blister packs and will therefore offer a much more accurate record of the temperature level experienced by a single product.