Suppliers of various systems also claim other advantages -- some real, others possibly doubtful. We cannot consider all of them. Each must be judged on the basis of applicable facts.

Freezing Costs. Cost data were obtained from several commercial sources (see Acknowledgments at end of paper). To be comparative, all costs should be calculated on the basis of equivalent assumptions. This was not possible because of the multiple sources used. I believe, however, that in spite of this reservation, the cost differences are valid. More extensive calculations would not change the basic data but only refine them.

In the brief survey made, I found freezing costs ranging from two-tenths of a cent to ten cents per pound of product for the common foods now being frozen. This extreme difference represents not only radically different freezing methods and products but also differences in accounting methods. , The lowest cost figures are generally for air-blast freezing of unpackaged materials and for turkeys usually tightly wrapped in plastic film. Typical costs are a half-cent a pound or less where volume is large, season is long, and operation is efficient. Plate freezing of packages was found to be around a half-cent a pound, with the automatic operation less costly than manual. Freezing costs over a cent a pound were found only in operations involving low capacity, unusual labor requirements, specialized products, or a high-cost freezing medium.