perishable
n.a substance or item that can rot, decay, or spoil quickly. You usually use this to describe food like milk or meat that needs to be kept cold.
n.a substance or item that is subject to decay, rot, or spoilage. Often used in the plural to refer to foodstuffs requiring refrigeration.
“Milk is a perishable item that needs to be kept cold.”
“The grocery store has a special section for perishable goods like fresh fish and dairy products.”
“Logistics companies must maintain strict temperature controls throughout the supply chain to ensure that perishable cargo remains safe for human consumption.”
“If an outage lasts for several hours, households may struggle to keep perishable food safely refrigerated.”
From Middle English *persishable, perysabyl, equivalent to perish + -able. Compare Old French perissable (and modern French périssable).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.