Is Mail Order Food Safe in the Summer Months?

Posted in Food Safety,Our Blog on July 28, 2026

I love convenience as much as the next person, especially when it comes to meal planning. Knowing that these foods can arrive ready to cook right to my good ready to cook is a huge plus, but is mail order food safe in the summer months? Today we look at some details.

Mail Order Food Safety Tips

The following food safety tips will help the purchaser and recipient determine if their perishable foods have been handled properly:

• Make sure the company sends perishable items, like meat or poultry, cold or frozen and packed with a cold source. It should be packed in foam or heavy corrugated cardboard.
• The food should be delivered as quickly as possible—ideally, overnight. Make sure perishable items and the outer package are labeled “Keep Refrigerated” to alert the recipient.
• When you receive a food item marked “Keep Refrigerated,” open it immediately and check its temperature. The food should arrive frozen or partially frozen with ice crystals still visible or at least refrigerator cold—below 40 °F as measured with a food thermometer. Even if a product is smoked, cured, vacuum-packed, and/or fully cooked, it still is a perishable product and must be kept cold. If perishable food arrives warm—above 40 °F as measured with a food thermometer—notify the company. Do not consume the food. Do not even taste suspect food.
• Tell the recipient if the company has promised a delivery date. Or alert the recipient that “the gift is in the mail” so someone can be there to receive it. Don’t have perishable items delivered to an office unless you know it will arrive on a workday and there is refrigerator space available for keeping it cold.

Sending Food In The Mail

Americans also enjoy cooking foods that are family favorites and mailing these items to family and friends. The same rules that cover the mail order industry also apply to foods prepared and mailed from home. Make sure perishable foods are not held at temperatures between 40 and 140 °F, the “Danger Zone”, for longer than 2 hours. Pathogenic bacteria can grow rapidly in the “Danger Zone”, but they may not affect the taste, smell, or appearance of a food. In other words, you cannot tell that a food has been mishandled or is unsafe to eat.

• Select an appropriate foam or heavy corrugated cardboard box to ship those perishable items, and use ice packs or dry ice to maintain good temperature control. It is important to ensure you have a sufficient amount of ice packs or dry ice to maintain the temperature for the duration of the shipping time to the final destination.
• Select the fastest delivery schedule, and send packages out at the beginning of the week, many delivery carriers only deliver during business days. You do not want perishable products sitting in a mailing facility over the weekend.
• Mark your package on the outside with “Keep Refrigerated” and “Perishable”. Request a tracking code and send the intended receiver the tracking code or expected delivery date so that it can be received and promptly inspected and stored.

Remember, temperature control is critical for perishable foods.

Preparation is Important

At the end of the day safety is imperative when choosing mail order foods or when shipping foods to family and friends. Many companies offer the ability to skip weeks which we have used when the weather is just plainly too hot. Its better to prepare to meal plan at home than to become ill from food that was too warm in transit.

For more summer food tips please keep an eye on Make Food Safe.