Dry Ice Alternatives for Food Shipping: Why Cold Packs Are the Practical Choice

Shipping chilled or frozen food reliably comes down to one choice: dry ice, or cold packs, also called gel packs. Dry ice has long served as the default for anything that needs to stay seriously cold. That’s starting to change. Its environmental footprint, its handling restrictions, and a regulatory backdrop that now actively pushes packaging toward reuse are driving more food businesses to look closely at reusable cold packs. For many, they’re becoming the practical alternative, not just an eco-friendly nice-to-have.

Why look beyond dry ice for food shipments

Dry ice is solid CO2. It sublimates directly from solid to gas, which is what makes it so effective at holding very low temperatures. That process also means you can’t reuse it: once it’s gone, it’s gone, and the CO2 it releases adds to the shipment’s carbon footprint on every single trip.

Handling adds further friction. Regulators classify dry ice as a hazardous material, which brings specific labelling, handling training, and compliance steps. Air freight treats it as a dangerous good, because it can displace oxygen in an enclosed space. Food businesses that ship fresh or frozen product regularly carry that as an ongoing operational cost, not a one-off inconvenience, on top of the price of the dry ice itself.

What changes with the PPWR

The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2025/40)

moved into general application on 12 August 2026. It replaces the old Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. Its direction is clear even before every implementing detail is finalised: the regulation is pushing the whole EU market toward packaging that can be used again and packaging that can be recycled.

Dry ice sits awkwardly against that direction by definition. Shippers consume it on every shipment, so there’s no version of dry ice that gets reused on the next one. Reusable cold packs fit that direction well: the same rigid or flexible pack can go out, come back, and go out again. That’s exactly the kind of packaging behaviour the regulation is designed to encourage. Any food business reviewing its cold chain packaging this year should ask which side of that line its current setup falls on.

The practical alternative: rigid and flexible cold packs

In refrigerated shipping, cold packs are already the standard choice, and shippers rarely use dry ice there. Frozen shipping is different: dry ice remains common, and that’s exactly where a reusable alternative earns its place. Cold packs vary along two dimensions: format, rigid or flexible, and temperature, chilled or frozen.

Rigid cold packs use a durable high-density polyethylene (HDPE) shell around a gel core, a eutectic gel engineered to hold a steady temperature as it changes state. The rigid casing resists breakage and compression, so the packs hold up well to repeated handling. That matters, because businesses reuse the same units across many shipments, not just one. They’re built for refrigerated or chilled transport.

Rigid frozen packs use the same durable construction, but their gel is formulated to change phase at a much lower point, around -21°C. That’s what lets them hold genuinely frozen temperatures rather than just chilled ones. This is the format built to stand in for dry ice on frozen shipments, and it carries none of dry ice’s hazardous material classification or handling restrictions.

Flexible cold and frozen packs trade some of the rigid format’s durability for a lighter, more economical option. Manufacturers heat-seal them, and they’re non-toxic and safe for direct contact with food. That makes them a practical choice for smaller shipments, or for businesses wanting a lower-cost entry point into reusable cooling.

What all three share is reusability. A cold pack’s cost spreads across years of shipments, while businesses have to buy dry ice again on every single trip. Reusable packs simply don’t carry that ongoing cost.

Why “how long will it last” depends on more than the pack

It’s tempting to look for a single number here: how many hours a given pack keeps food cold. That number doesn’t really exist in isolation. Treating it as if it does is one of the more common mistakes in choosing a cold chain setup.

A cold pack is the cold source. Two other things decide how long it actually protects the product: what it’s packed inside, and how much product travels with it. A 5mm layer of XPS foam and a 40-60mm layer of polyurethane (PU) foam are not interchangeable. PU generally insulates better per millimetre than XPS, and a thicker layer of either material slows heat transfer further. Product mass matters too: food that goes in already at the right temperature acts as extra thermal buffer. A fuller, well-packed shipment tends to hold its temperature better than a mostly empty one carrying the same cold pack.

In practice, the right question isn’t “how many hours does this pack last.” It’s “how long does this pack last inside the box I actually use, loaded the way I actually load it.” Whoever relies on a duration figure should validate it for that complete setup, rather than taking it from the cold pack’s data sheet alone.

Where PCM fits in

For shipments where the acceptable margin is unusually tight, engineered Phase Change Materials, or PCM, offer extra precision beyond standard cold packs. Manufacturers formulate them to change phase at a precise temperature point away from the usual gel range. PCM packs suit specific cases, but for most everyday chilled and frozen food shipments, cold packs remain the more common and more practical starting point.

FAQ

Are cold packs reusable, unlike dry ice?

Yes. Businesses can reuse rigid and flexible cold packs across multiple shipments, and recycle them at end of life. Dry ice, by contrast, is gone completely after a single use.

How do I know how long a cold pack will protect my shipment?

It depends on three things together: the cold pack, the insulated container around it, and how much product travels with it. Validate the setup you’re actually going to ship with, rather than relying on a generic duration figure.

What’s the difference between a standard cold pack and a PCM pack?

Standard cold packs use gel formulated around typical chilled or frozen ranges. PCM packs change phase at a specific, chosen temperature point, for shipments that need tighter control than the standard range provides.

The bottom line

Dry ice still works, and for frozen shipments in particular it remains common. But it carries a carbon cost and a hazardous materials process. And, as of this year, it runs against the regulatory direction set by Regulation (EU) 2025/40. that runs against it. Cold packs, rigid or flexible, offer a reusable, food-safe alternative. They match where cold chain packaging is going: toward reuse, not single-use.

Explore Tempack’s cold packs range to find the right fit for your shipments.