Most of the foodstuffs consumed daily nowadays need to be refrigerated because they are perishable (meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, etc.). For this reason, it is essential to guarantee their safety for as long as possible, thus avoiding possible health problems.
It has been proven that refrigeration of food at an optimum temperature plays a fundamental role in maintaining food safety. In many cases it is necessary to control and maintain the storage temperature, which will be different for each type of product.
In addition, if we lower the storage temperature of perishable foods, we will be able to significantly reduce the reproduction speed of the vast majority of microorganisms. These are the cause of decomposition, favouring the loss of product quality and generating possible illnesses in consumers.
Refrigeration slows down the metabolism of organic matter to a near standstill at -18°C (the international standard for most frozen products). At this temperature, the partial or total inhibition of altering processes in food, such as certain enzymatic reactions or the metabolic degradation of proteins, is achieved. This slows down the decomposition and spoilage of these foods, as well as preventing possible health problems after consumption.
Over the years, a number of processes have been known to achieve food preservation, using different methods. These processes try to slow down the growth of micro-organisms and therefore the properties of the food, although this is not always possible. The two most common ways of preserving food today are:
In addition, there are other types of preservation processes which, although with different qualities, also aim to preserve the optimum conditions for food consumption, among which the following stand out:
Nowadays, refrigeration and freezing are the two most widespread methods of food preservation.
Food refrigeration is a preservation process based on the reduction or maintenance of a controlled temperature for a given time and space, usually in cold rooms. This process is based on the extraction of energy from bodies with high thermal energy, thus reducing their energy, and consequently bacterial activity, in this case, in the preservation of foodstuffs.
When we talk about thermal energy, we refer to the temperature of a given body, since the more thermal energy, the higher the temperature of the body. Conversely, the lower the thermal energy, the lower the temperature.
In addition, to better understand the importance of food refrigeration, it is important to know the cold chain. If we were to analyse our daily food consumption, we would see that the vast majority of them are perishable and therefore need to be refrigerated in order to be consumed in the desired time and form without altering their optimal conditions of consumption.
There is a great deal of regulation on food safety, both at national, European and international level. As early as 1948, article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services”.
Defrosting is just as important a process as freezing if we want to obtain quality food.
In this case, the rules are just the opposite of those for a freezing process. While freezing processes should ideally be carried out in the shortest possible time, when it comes to thawing, the ideal is just the opposite, that they should be as slow as possible (within reasonable limits).
A very common practice to avoid whenever possible is to defrost food at room temperature, as there are a lot of bacteria that proliferate very easily at temperatures between 4 and 40 °C, especially in foods such as meat or fish. In addition, when thawing at room temperature, the surface of the food will inevitably thaw first, generating a layer of water on that surface which will favour the growth of these bacteria.
Based on the above, thawing should ideally be carried out at a temperature that does not exceed this barrier, which is around 4 °C (maximum 5 °C). The disadvantage here is that defrosting will take much longer, but it will be worth it as the defrosting will be uniform. This slow defrosting helps to restore the original properties of the food, and the proliferation of bacteria will be very slow. For this reason, it is recommended at a domestic level, that defrosting of food is always carried out inside the refrigerator, where the temperature is usually around 4 °C.
If we do not have the time to perform slow defrosting (inside the refrigerator), there are also some quick defrosting methods that can give an acceptable result if done properly:
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