We all freeze food! Let’s face it …With the New Year upon us, everyone is looking for ways to stay healthier, drop a few pounds and that usually starts in the kitchen.
We all look for great strategies to eat smarter and make our prep easier. One of the easiest ways to shed a few calories is to start cooking from home again. And..that means shopping the sales and freezing food or coming up with great freezer meal dishes.
So how long can you actually keep your foods in the freezer for?
If you search the internet you will find a long list of helpful infographics that are to point you in the right direction about how long you can actually use that food that’s frozen.
Some charts say you can freeze chicken for up to nine months. Others say twelve. Some charts say that cheese will last for six months and others say four.
Those guidelines are helpful but are they accurate?
Not really…
If you look at the USDA, those guidelines aren’t actually referring to safety at all. Because food frozen is safe to eat provided it was safe to eat at the exact time it was frozen.
“Because freezing keeps food safe almost indefinitely, recommended storage times are for quality only,” says the USDA. “Food stored constantly at 0 degrees Fahrenheit will always be safe. Only the quality suffers with lengthy freezer storage.”
The charts may be helpful .. but they are only actually suggesting the optimum freezing times for the best quality .. not necessarily for safety.
For example, a frozen banana will be safe to eat in your freezer until the end of times. It may only actually taste good and remain it’s delicious white color for three months, but in terms of safety – have at it!
The USDA explains why freezing is a safe method of storage “Freezing keeps food safe by slowing the movement of molecules, causing microbes to enter a dormant stage. Freezing preserves food for extended periods because it prevents the growth of microorganisms that cause both food spoilage and foodborne illness.” Freezing also inactivates any bacteria, yeasts and molds that may be found in your food. (Just remember that once you thaw your food, these microbes can become active again.)
Below are the USDA’s freezer guidelines and below that is an additional guide from FreezerLabels.net that includes more ingredients ― remember, these charts are both guidelines for qualit
y only, not safety. If you’re looking for a food that’s not listed on any of the charts below, the USDA offers some tips that’ll help you determine a food’s quality:
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