Cold packs or dry ice: what do you need?

When do you need dry ice, and when is a regular cold pack enough? The choice doesn't depend on how cold you want it, but on which temperature range your product requires and which rules apply to your shipment.

The temperature range decides

Gel-based cold packs maintain a chilled range of 2 to 8 degrees. This covers almost all fresh food, standard medication, meal boxes, fish, meat and dairy. Frozen shipping is also possible, provided you freeze the packs beforehand at minus 18 degrees and use sufficient insulation.

Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide at around minus 78 degrees. This is only needed if your product must stay deep-frozen over a longer distance or longer transit time, for example ice cream, certain vaccines or biological material.

Dry ice is a hazardous substance

This is the point that is most often underestimated. Dry ice falls under hazardous substance regulations. It sublimates into CO2 gas, which is asphyxiating in an enclosed space and causes overpressure if contained. Separate regulations, labels and quantity limits apply for air freight, and many parcel carriers do not accept dry ice, or only under contract.

Cold packs are not subject to these restrictions. They may be shipped without additional rules in any parcel or freight channel.

Cost and availability

Dry ice must be purchased per shipment and sublimates away during storage, so you cannot keep stock. Cold packs sit in your freezer and are considerably cheaper per unit.

Practical choice

If you ship chilled between 2 and 8 degrees, a cold pack is the correct and cheapest choice. If you ship frozen within 24 to 48 hours, sufficient frozen packs and a thick-walled box will usually also do the job. Only with longer deep-freeze routes or air freight does dry ice become unavoidable, and then you need to put the corresponding rules in place.