5 Tips For Adding To The Shelf Life Of Your Food Products
Monday, September 10, 2018, 6:00 PM | Leave Comment
There are a number of ways you can improve the shelf life of your food products. While some of these ways are long-established methods, others are apparently modern methods as they include irradiation and the use of certain chemicals in delaying or preventing food decay.
Many food packaging companies either utilize one of these preservative methods or combine two or more in order to extend the shelf life of the foods they package.
If you’d like to delay the spoilage of your foodstuffs, you can check out the methods discussed in this article and find out the suitable option for them.
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Irradiation of Food Products
Irradiation may include the pasteurization of milk and the storing of vegetables, fruits, beverages, etc., in cans.
Basically, it is a preservative technique that attempts to reduce the insects and micro-organisms in food or destroy them completely.
Besides helping to improve the shelf life of food products, irradiation keeps the quality of foods intact, ensuring that such foods are safe for consumption.
In its basic definition, irradiation is the method of exposing food products to ionizing radiation in order to keep them safe, edible and free from microbes until they are needed for consumption.
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Use of Chemicals
Certain chemicals are commonly used by food manufacturers in extending the shelf life of food products.
Some food pouches and beef jerky packaging bags are already packed with oxygen absorbers required for prolonging the flavor and edibility of sealed foods.
In addition to oxygen absorbers, antioxidants are effective chemicals for ridding food products of oxidation.
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Drying
Drying has been in use for long and it’s apparently one of the effective ways of adding to the shelf life of food products.
Basically, drying entails improving the shelf life of foodstuffs by removing moisture from them.
Perhaps, drying is the preservation method used for foods that do not require refrigeration –examples being sugary marmalade and jams.
As part of the drying process, food products can be mixed with concentrated salt and sugar solutions to prevent micro-organisms.
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Heating
Heating is one of the effective methods of extending shelf life and it is best suited for sauces, syrups, jams and similar products.
On one hand, ‘hot-filling’ will keep these products in a sterile condition and on another, it will prevent the formation of microbes.
If micro-organisms are already present in your food products, heating can be done to destroy them.
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Freezing
Freezing is arguably the commonest method of extending the shelf life of foods. Besides being a convenient method, freezing is used by many people probably because it works out well in destroying molds, bacteria and other micro-organisms in food.
These organisms are very likely to die when you freeze your food product below -18°Celsius.
Also, early freezing of food products can prevent the formation of micro-organisms in them. Interestingly, freezing is suitable for lots of food products including snacks, shrimps, veggies, fruits, etc.
