Top 5 Frozen Food Myths in Singapore

Who doesn’t need contemporary meals all yr lengthy?

The principle cause to decide on contemporary meals over frozen meals lays within the perception that the latter won’t ever win within the battle over style and vitamins.

Imagine it or not, permit me to stroll the discuss, to show that frozen meals shouldn’t deserve the dangerous rap!

Listed below are the highest 5 myths which have saved frozen meals to endure from customers’ misperception.

1. FROZEN FOOD IS LESS NUTRITIOUS

It is rather frequent to consider that any contemporary meals can greatest a frozen one by way of dietary worth.

There’s a saying: Recent is greatest. Precisely! Frozen meals is at all times handled as a contingency possibility when contemporary meals is unavailable. However this isn’t at all times proper. In reality, frozen meals could be more healthy than contemporary ones.

To place it in perspective, on this case, contemporary meat has an extended journey from slaughterhouse to grocery store or moist market, which leads to degrading of vitamins through the transitions.

Conversely, frozen meat is blast frozen to lock within the vitamins and freshness as quickly because the butcher completes the cuts.

The period from storage to the purpose of cooking additionally performs an vital position in sustaining vitamins. Recent meat that had been chilled for days within the fridge won’t out-perform its frozen counterpart at any time limit, as a result of it loses vitamins faster over time with out being saved in a frozen state.

2. FROZEN FOOD IS HIGH IN SODIUM & ADDED PRESERVATIVES

You can be forgiven you probably have this assumption. In spite of everything, a few years in the past, many didn’t consider you possibly can have a fast meal that’s wholesome on the identical time.

Added preservatives are pointless to extend meals shelf life, provided that freezing meals is already a pure type of preservation. Many frozen meals producers, like SADIA – are freed from preservatives.

Right now, the frozen meals market has been pushed by the growing variety of folks turning into well being acutely aware. Due to this fact, many producers are creating numerous preservative-free prepared meals which can be low in energy and sodium to fulfill the calls for.

The Singapore Coronary heart Basis has really useful 2000mg of sodium because the each day benchmark for wholesome adults, which is fairly straightforward to exceed if you’re not conscious sufficient. For that cause, we should always purpose for the bottom sodium when potential.

First, scan the packaging for the “More healthy Selection” Image, which signifies it’s a more healthy possibility than others.

Learn the diet details label too, it is best to purpose for frozen prepared meals which have lower than 600 mg of sodium and fewer than 500 kcal of energy. On a facet be aware, watch out to keep away from these which can be low in protein which is the important thing to maintain you full longer.

3. FROZEN FOOD CANT BE REFREEZE ONCE THAWED

[Do not refreeze after thawing] does this appear acquainted to you?

Typically seen on frozen meals packaging, frozen meals producers play it secure as a result of they do know that not many customers are cautious of secure thawing strategies. So that they trick fairly than train!

In reality, refreezing is simply harmful to meals thawed at room temperature on the kitchen counter the place the micro organism come again to life and start to multiply.

Refreezing doesn’t destroy micro organism, it simply retains them inactive till the following thawing session. Think about how contaminated thawed meals could be after a few refreezing cycles and if cooking isn’t executed correctly on the proper temperature, that’s when meals poisoning happens.

Preventive Tips

Thaw meals on the bottom shelf of fridge at 4℃ or decrease – It will sluggish micro organism development

Refreeze meals at -18℃ in container, freezer bag or plastic wrap to attenuate air publicity – It will forestall freezer burn

Cook dinner meals to a secure inside temperature of not less than 75℃ – It will destroy most micro organism

All meals thawed by different strategies equivalent to microwave or chilly water is unsafe to be refrozen. Sadly, it’s both you refreeze it after cooking or dump it uncooked.

Life occurs and generally our dinners plan get adjusted. No one likes losing meals however it’s positively higher than catching the foodborne sickness.

4. FROZEN FOOD TASTE DIFFERENT (IN A BAD WAY)

Sorry believers, however it’s true provided that freezing and storage aren’t executed beneath the proper circumstances.

When you bear in mind, “Freezer burn” was talked about seconds in the past. It’s a results of dehydration, particularly on frozen meals with water content material to being with.

The water molecules type ice crystals within the presence of air, then they escape from the meals to the coldest a part of the freezer, therefore taste is commonly misplaced within the course of.

I wager you may have seen a type of frozen meals coated with a thick layer of ice crystals, it’s as a result of the floor of it is going to be the coldest when air motion will get restricted inside a meals packaging.

One of the best prevention is to present your meals an additional layer of safety by vacuum sealing it or wrap tightly with plastic wrap. The rationale is to cease air from coming into contact with meals.

The impact of the repeated freeze-thaw cycle is the following wrongdoer that contributes to the lack of pure taste and texture in frozen meals. As water freeze to develop into ice, it expands and thereby forces to wreck the cell partitions of the meals.

Oftentimes unnoticed, additional injury may occur because of refroze when the temperature fluctuates within the freezer, which could be minimized by not overloading the freezer compartment, and refraining from the common opening, and shutting off the freezer door.

And final however not least, is the velocity of freezing. The quicker it takes to get down beneath freezing level, the smaller the ice crystal shaped, leading to much less severity brought about to the meals’s cells.

Fortunately with at the moment’s new expertise to freeze faster, which means that you may be assured that frozen meals retain their high quality.

5. FROZEN FOOD EXPIRES

Are you in dilemma to prepare dinner that bag of frozen wings, purchased months in the past?

The excellent news is YES! In keeping with FDA, frozen meals previous the expiry date shall be secure indefinitely as long as it has been saved frozen persistently. Nevertheless, the massive BUT is that high quality could be compromised.

Even freeze burnt meals are secure to be consumed too.

That offers me the idea that the expiry date is just about there to maintain frozen meals producers away from being liable for his or her merchandise after a sure time period, fairly than to point the product is unsafe to eat at any additional level of time.

All stated, we nonetheless belief our native authority higher proper? Though SFA didn’t come clear on frozen meals security past expiry on their web site, listed below are their really useful durations of storing meals.

THE BOTTOM LINE

FRESH ISN’T ALWAYS SO FRESH, FROZEN DOESN’T MEAN NOT FRESH.

All of it depends upon how you intend your meal preparation.

In my very own opinion, paying extra for contemporary meals solely comes down to 1 logical cause: To avoid wasting thawing time.

However have you learnt, thawing could be skipped by simply growing prepare dinner time by 50%?