At a stated temperature
On this page13
The provision
For a frozen food, express the volume at the frozen temperature. For a refrigerated food, express the volume at 40 degrees F. For other foods, express the volume at 68 degrees F.
Which is the only place in this library where a quantity has a temperature
Every other declared figure here is a mass, a count or a volume stated flatly. This one says at what temperature the volume is true.
Because a volume is not a fixed property
Liquids expand with heat, so a volume measured warm and a volume measured cold are different numbers for the same material.
So the regulation fixes a reference condition
68 degrees F, which is about 20 Celsius, for ordinary foods. A laboratory room temperature.
And 40 degrees F for a refrigerated food
Which is about 4 Celsius and is a refrigerator. The reference follows the product's own storage condition.
Frozen is the interesting one
Express the volume at the frozen temperature, which is not a number. The reference is the condition rather than a figure.
Which is sensible and unusual drafting
A frozen food is at whatever temperature it is frozen at, and specifying one would be arbitrary.
None of this reaches a dry solid
Because a solid is declared by weight, and weight does not change with temperature. The temperature rule follows the fluid measure branch.
So for this group it is background
All ten leaves are dry solids. The temperature provision is quoted because it is the most surprising sentence in the section.
And it connects to a field we publish
A temperature range appears on many rows in our catalog, which describes what the container tolerates rather than the condition a quantity is declared at.
Two different temperatures, both on a packaging page
One is a property of the container and one is a reference condition for a measurement. Worth keeping apart.
The compounding property makes the same distinction
Where a storage and use temperature range is not a statement about an autoclave cycle.