Timestrip’s specialist freezer product DefrostWatch™ is now available from leading kitchenware retailer Lakeland. The product, which monitors temperature levels in the freezer, allows families to decide if frozen food (especially high-risk items like meat and shellfish) is still safe to consume after power to the freezer has been off.

When a power cut takes place during the night or while you’re away from the house, there’s no way of knowing how long your freezer has been without power and therefore whether or not the contents have been affected. DefrostWatch™ will stop you using food that’s unsafe or throwing away food when you don’t need to. The device was designed to show at a glance whether temperatures in a freezer have been too high and, more importantly, for how long.

DefrostWatch™ is an irreversible temperature indicator, which sits unobtrusively in the freezer and monitors its temperature. Simply activated, the DefrostWatch™ indicator changes colour to confirm activation, but does not move so long as the freezer stays at or under a safe temperature. When that changes, the colour moves across the scale to show how long the higher temperature lasted, allowing appropriate action to be taken. If the temperature returns to safe levels, indicator progress stops, avoiding unnecessary waste.

“We’re thrilled that DefrostWatch™ is now available at Lakeland, where a really wide range of consumers will be able to discover it,” said Reuben Isbitsky, Joint CEO of Timestrip plc. “It’s a simple and inexpensive way to protect families from food that’s unsafe and prevent food wastage where it’s not necessary.”

Lakeland was founded nearly 50 years ago and has around 4000 products in its range. The company produces 18 catalogues a year, sending them to over a million households around the world. As well as 44 thriving stores, the firm despatches more than 6000 parcels daily.

Timestrip produces a wide range of labels to automatically monitor elapsed time in a variety of conditions, from ambient environments to fridge, freezer and extremely high temperatures. The technology can be integrated into products or packaging, as well as the applied label format and is in use across a diverse range of industries. Timestrip was a double winner at the 2009 UK Packaging Awards, taking the prizes for Labelling and Innovation of the Year.