Have you ever gotten sick after eating food that was previously frozen? Food borne illnesses (more commonly known as “food poisoning”) affect more than 48 million Americans a year. Most of the time symptoms include nausea, upset stomach, vomiting, diarrhea and fever. In serious cases it can result in death. Food poisoning/food spoilage can be prevented by invoking proper freezing and thawing methods. These are the steps you need to take to ensure proper frozen food storage:
1. Airtight containers
The first step is to use airtight containers/bags. A vacuum sealer is ideal but if you don’t have one, you can simply squeeze the air out of the bag until there is as little as possible. This prevents bacteria growth and freezer burn.
2. Small portions
Try to break up large items into smaller portions. This allows your food to freeze quicker, which can help prevent food spoilage.
3. Temperature
Make sure the temperature of your freezer is 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. This ensures minimal bacteria growth. Temperature is also important for thawing your frozen food. Some foods, like bread, can be thawed at room temperature but foods such as meat need to be thawed in the microwave or in the sink by running cool water over it. You can also move your meat to the refrigerator to let it thaw. Also note that any meat thawed by microwave or water should be cooked immediately. If thawed in the refrigerator it should be cooked with in 3 or 4 days.
4. Timing
Try to place the items you want frozen in the coldest parts of the freezer. The quicker it freezes the less likely it is to develop microbes.
5. Long-term freezing
If you’re planning to keep meat frozen for longer than 2 months, wrap the meat in foil or plastic wrap and then place the meat into a plastic bag. Meat stored like this can be safe indefinitely, but keep in mind that after a few months the quality and taste may start to degrade.
6. Expiry dates
Always check the information on the product that you are freezing, most of the time it will have handling recommendations. This is also important for sell by and expiration dates.
7. Purchasing frozen foods
When buying frozen food look for signs of defrost and refreezing. To know when foods have started to defrost look for small ice crystals in the packaging. These crystals indicate that the product started to defrost and then got refrozen.
