As per our convenience and demanding work life culture people are exhausted at the end of day ultimately does not want to cook food daily and depends on frozen food.
It sounds reasonable but is it good for our health if it becomes a habit?
Lets discuss in details about the topic.
- How long is the frozen meat safe to eat once its in your freezer?
Frozen meats once kept in Freezer at a temperature of 0°F (-18°C) needs to be maintained. In such a way food can be stored indefinitely. At this temperature it inactivates the microbes mold, yeast and bacteria’s preventing your food from going bad.
There is no harm in adding an extra wrap on the food as this will help keep out moisture, In short preserves the taste and nutrients.
2. Is it good to refreeze the thawed meat?
If the meat have been taken out from freezer and thawed properly and sealed back into the freezer again there is no harm, unless you have kept it in the room temperature for more than an hour.
According to USDA guidelines, however, don’t refreeze foods left outside the refrigerator for longer than two hours or one hour in temperatures above 90°F (32°C).
3. Does freezing meat kills the bacteria?
Well that’s a myth. If the bacteria was alive before freezing the meet, freezing meat will just slow down the process of bacteria multiplication but as soon as you bring the food to room temperature it will start to grow and multiply at its regular pace.
That’s why its recommended to thaw the meet inside the fridge or in a leakproof plastic submerged in chilled water.
Till when you can keep your food frozen in Freezer.
- Chicken thigh, wings, breasts can be safely kept frozen for 9 months.
- Steaks for almost 12 months.
- Lean fish for 7-8 months, while fatty fish only 2-3 months.
- Ground beef shouldn’t be frozen for more than 3 months.
There’s also a discussion on how long the food can be stored in Fridge.
At fridge mainly food is stored at 40°F (4°C) which slows the growth of bacteria but its not assured that it will stop the growth completely. Hence make sure to finish the stored meat as early as possible.
- Raw poultry can be kept not more than 2 days in fridge.
- Uncooked beef should be eaten within 4-5 days.
- Whereas whatever the kind of fish it is lean or fatty can only be refrigerated for 2 days maximum.
According to nutritionist Monisha, a Delhi-based Nutritionist, “frozen foods have side effects as they contain hydrogenated palm oil that has harmful trans-fat. Preservatives like starch, corn syrup which is made up of glucose are added to these foods and are noted as carcinogenic substances. Also the sodium content is much higher in these ready to eat meals. It adds to the increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases like high BP, diabetes, cholesterol etc. at a very young age”.
Also read: These Lifestyle Habits Are The Top Reasons You Can Get Cancer
Being a much debatable topic and mixed reviews its very difficult to choose Fresh vs Frozen or vice versa.
Though as per my personal experience I would say that I prefer fresh meat. I myself have felt that the tenderness of meat reduces with the time its stored in freezer. Meat tastes good when its tender, juicy and fresh. If the food is not frozen properly or thawed and refrozen correctly it will lose tenderness and seem much drier.
Another major con of frozen meat that I felt is the breakdown of fibres. Since the meat gets exposed to extreme temperatures, it’s water content starts freezing and it expands, as a result ice crystals raises the level of protein and essential fibres eventually breaks down. This breakdown may affect the nutritional value and nutrition can take a drop.
What are your thoughts in it?
Flavors by Parween 