Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China – November 03, 2026

Freezer safe is not one property but four, and the one buyers forget to test is the one that decides whether the box is still closed when it leaves the dock. Here is how to write the specification and how to verify it.

• Freezer safe means four separate things: the tape stays flexible at -18°C, the bond retains peel adhesion after cold exposure, the bond retains shear adhesion under load, and nothing transfers onto a food-contact surface. A supplier quoting one number for all four is quoting a number for none of them.
• The adhesive chemistry is where the cold behaviour is decided, and it is the first question to ask: hot-melt rubber, acrylic and water-based systems fail differently, and the adhesive is the part a buyer is least able to see.
• The substrate still matters. Our published substrate range for tapes includes regenerated transparent cellulose film, one-side and two-side coated cellulose film, aluminized high-barrier cellulose film and coloured cellulose film, with the properties we work to every day: biodegradable, insulating, heat resistant and anti-static.
• Specify the test, not the adjective. Peel adhesion, shear adhesion and tack should each be quoted at 23°C and at -18°C after defined conditioning, so the numbers can be compared between suppliers instead of the marketing claims.
• For food-contact use, the paperwork is a separate workstream: the EU food contact framework, the plastics regulation and the packaging and packaging waste regulation all sit on top of the performance data.

A packaging film that outlasts the product it protects is not a packaging solution, it is a waste problem waiting to happen, and a tape that lets go at -18°C is the same argument run in reverse: the packaging has failed before the product has. In a cold chain, the failure is invisible. The carton looks sealed, the data log looks fine, and the loss is discovered at the receiving dock, which is the most expensive place to discover anything.

Our biodegradable tape range and the biodegradable clear sealing tape product page are the first-party source for the substrate and tape capabilities quoted below. Where we do not publish a number, this guide says so and tells you what to ask for instead.

What “Freezer Safe at -18°C” Actually Has to Mean

The phrase covers four properties that fail independently, and a tape that passes three of them is still a tape that fails.

1. Cold flexibility. The film and the adhesive have to stay flexible at -18°C. A bond can be intact while the tape itself has gone brittle, and the first sign is a crack or a tear during handling rather than a failure of adhesion.
2. Peel adhesion retention. The bond has to resist being peeled off at temperature. This is the number most suppliers quote, and it is the one that decides whether a seam opens under vibration and handling in a cold truck.
3. Shear adhesion retention. The bond has to carry load without creeping. A bond can hold peel and lose shear, which is why a cold chain specification that only lists peel is incomplete: a sealed flap held by a hanging carton is a shear case.
4. No migration and no transfer. Where the tape touches a food-contact surface, the bond must not transfer adhesive or colour onto the pack, and the formulation has to be covered by the applicable declaration rather than by a general statement that the product is food safe.

Because the four properties are independent and each fails for its own reason, the specification has to name the test and the conditioning for each one, and the conversation with a supplier should start with the test method rather than with the temperature.

Why the Substrate and the Adhesive Both Decide the Answer

The adhesive decides how the bond behaves at temperature, and the substrate decides what the tape is made of, how it handles moisture, and what happens to the pack when the tape is finally removed.

Our published substrate range for tape manufacture is the same cellulose film family we sell as film: regenerated transparent protective cellulose film, regenerated transparent cellulose film, one-side and two-side coated cellulose film, aluminized cellulose film for high-barrier metallic gloss applications, and coloured cellulose film. The properties we work to across those films are biodegradable, insulating, heat resistant and anti-static, and they are developed to meet EU food contact material standards, which is why they also serve the tape substrate and insulation segments alongside aerospace, military, medical subcontracting, food subcontracting and craft packaging.

Our published tape features are deliberately conservative. The biodegradable clear sealing tape is described as strong in adhesion despite being designed to biodegrade over time, resistant to tearing, non-toxic, easy to apply by hand or on a dispenser, printable with logos and branding, and customisable in width, length and colour. That is a substrate story and a converting story, and it is exactly the kind of claim a buyer should accept alongside, not instead of, cold-condition adhesion data.

Because a cellulose-based substrate is a hygroscopic material whose behaviour changes with ambient moisture, and because cold storage is exactly the condition where moisture behaviour changes, the moisture content of the film and the storage conditions of the finished tape are the two variables that have to be declared rather than assumed.

Substrate and adhesive are chosen together: the film is the half you can see, and the adhesive is the half that decides what happens at -18°C.How to Write a Specification That Can Actually Be Verified

A freezer-safe tape specification is a test plan with tolerances attached, and this is the structure that works.

• Declare the conditioning. State the temperature, for example -18°C, and the time the tape and the test panel are held there before testing. Adhesion is time and temperature dependent, so a figure without both is not a figure.
• Quote peel adhesion by a named method. ASTM D3330 is the reference method for peel adhesion of pressure-sensitive tape, and the specification should name the peel angle, the dwell time before testing and the panel material, because fibreboard, film and corrugated board give different results.
• Quote shear adhesion by a named method. ASTM D3654 is the reference for shear adhesion, and it is the property that governs whether a sealed flap carries the load of the contents above it.
• Add tack and a cold-flex check. Loop tack or ball tack tells you about the initial grab, and a simple cold-flex check on the film tells you whether the substrate has gone brittle. These two often fail before the adhesion numbers do.
• Test the cycle, not only the point. A tape that is applied warm and then chilled, and a tape that is applied cold to a cold surface, are different use cases. Ask for data that covers the condition the line actually runs.
• Include condensation and frost. In a freezer environment, water vapour condenses on the seal. A specification that never mentions moisture ingress at the seam is describing half the environment.
• Set the shelf-life and storage envelope. Both the tape and the finished cartons have storage conditions, and a shelf life stated without conditions is not a shelf life.

Because every one of these is a documented test rather than an opinion, and because a supplier who will not quote conditioning data is telling you something important about how the tape will behave in a cold truck, the test plan is the fastest way to qualify a tape for a cold chain.

The Paperwork That Runs Alongside the Performance Data

For tape that goes into food contact or onto food packaging, the documentation is a separate workstream with its own frameworks, and none of them are satisfied by a performance report.

In the European Union the general framework is Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, and plastic components including tape bodies and films sit under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. On the United States side, the reference for polymeric coatings and adhesives in food contact is 21 CFR 175.300. Separately, for any packaging moving into the European Union, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40 is the framework that governs recyclability, labelling and what happens to a pack after the contents are gone, which is precisely why a biodegradable substrate has to be evaluated against a recognised recovery route rather than only against a degradation claim.

Because the packaging regulation applies to the whole pack rather than to the tape alone, and because a tape choice that satisfies the food contact rules but leaves the carton unrecoverable can still fail the customer’s sustainability targets, the two decisions have to be taken together rather than in sequence.

How to Specify: What to Send Us

Seven details let us return a specification, a sample and a documentation pack rather than a catalogue page.

1. Service temperature: the coldest the pack will see and how long it will stay there.
2. Application condition: is the tape applied at ambient or in a cold room, and to a cold or warm surface.
3. Substrate of the pack: corrugated board, film, rigid container or a mixed board, since the panel material changes the adhesion result.
4. Adhesive family preference, if your process or your customer requires one.
5. Tape format: width, length, thickness, core size, and whether the tape is printed with branding or indicators.
6. Food contact status, and which declaration or declaration set your market requires.
7. Quantity, pack format and storage conditions the finished tape has to survive before use.

We do not publish tape prices here, because substrate, adhesive, thickness, width, printing and the documentation set all move the number, so the useful answer is a quotation against a written specification. Because the tape is the last thing to fail and the hardest to trace back, the specification and the test plan should be agreed before the first production order rather than after the first rejected pallet.

Frequently Asked Questions1. What temperature should a freezer-safe tape actually be tested at?

At the coldest your chain reaches, with -18°C as the standard frozen-storage reference, and the test has to declare how long the tape and the panel were conditioned there before the measurement. Adhesion is time and temperature dependent, so a figure quoted without conditioning time, peel angle and panel material cannot be compared with another supplier’s figure.

2. Should I specify peel adhesion or shear adhesion?

Both, because they fail differently. Peel adhesion, tested to a method such as ASTM D3330, governs whether a seam opens under handling and vibration, while shear adhesion, tested to a method such as ASTM D3654, governs whether a sealed flap carries the weight of what is inside it. A tape can keep its peel value and lose shear in the cold, and that is exactly the failure a cold chain sees first.

3. Is a cellulose-based tape substrate suitable for cold chain use?

Our cellulose films are developed for food contact compliance and published as biodegradable, insulating, heat resistant and anti-static, and they are used as tape substrates. Because cellulose is a moisture-sensitive material and cold storage changes moisture behaviour, the variables to declare are the film moisture content and the storage conditions of the finished tape, and the cold adhesion data should be requested per configuration rather than assumed from the film datasheet.

4. What data should a supplier quote for cold performance?

Peel adhesion, shear adhesion and tack at both ambient and -18°C after defined conditioning, a cold-flex or cracking check on the film, the cycle and condensation conditions tested, and the shelf life with its storage envelope. If a supplier quotes a single adhesion number with no conditioning, there is no baseline to compare against the next quotation.

5. What documentation is needed for food-contact tape?

In the European Union the framework is Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, with plastic components under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, and in the United States the reference for polymeric coatings and adhesives in food contact is 21 CFR 175.300. A declaration of compliance for the specific tape construction and the intended use is what a quality file needs, not a general food-safe statement.

6. Does the new EU packaging regulation affect what I specify?

Yes. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40 governs recyclability, labelling and post-use handling for packaging placed on the European market, and it applies to the pack as a whole rather than to the tape alone. That is why a biodegradable substrate has to be evaluated against a recognised recovery route and against the labelling expectations that come with it, alongside the food contact and cold performance data.

About Us

ZHEJIANG XIADE NEW MATERIAL CO.,LTD. is a professional global export leader and international business window under Shaoxing Kede New Materials Co., Ltd. We rely on the excellent research and development capabilities and large-scale production base of the Kod factory, and are committed to promoting high-quality natural cellulose membrane products to the global market.

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