Not everything placed in a freezer is a "refrigerated beverage".

When it comes to refrigerated beverages, the first thing that comes to many people’s minds is definitely the dazzling array of drinks in the glass-door freezers of supermarkets and convenience stores: black tea, green tea, Coke, Sprite... In fact, this is a misunderstanding. Refrigerated beverages refer to drinks that must be stored at a specific temperature (generally refrigerated at 0℃-10℃) and have a relatively long shelf life (ranging from 5 to 180 days).

In the beverage section of supermarkets and convenience stores, various drinks are often placed in beverage coolers for people to choose from. Pure water and carbonated drinks generally only need to be stored at room temperature. Putting them in freezers is often just for people to pursue a more comfortable taste. These drinks that have no temperature requirements are "fake" refrigerated beverages.

"Genuine" refrigerated beverages require full cold chain control. After sterilization, the beverage contents need to be rapidly cooled to below 7°C, immediately filled, and then stored in a refrigerator. Subsequent transportation and sales must be carried out under low-temperature conditions.

Why are there such differences?

In fact, storage at different temperatures is closely related to the sterilization of beverages. Room-temperature beverages undergo stricter sterilization conditions, and with nearly vacuum packaging, they usually have a longer shelf life. Refrigerated beverages, on the other hand, are subjected to lower sterilization temperatures or shorter sterilization times during production and processing, which generally allows them to retain more nutrients or have a better taste.