Every weekend, we go to the grocery shops and buy packaged food for the entire week. Have we ever thought about how to store packages food? These packaged foods are sensitive to physical and chemical changes and can get contaminated/spoiled too easily. Let us understand and know how to store packaged food?
Things you need to know about how to store packaged food?
There many reasons packaged food is an option for traditional food. Packaged food can be stored for a specified time limit depending on nature and material. These foods are not easy to store as once they are exposed to the external environment, they start getting spoiled sooner or later. So, it is very important to know how to store packaged food safely so that you can enjoy them and also can avoid health issues. Packaged foods come with many chemicals and preservatives which makes them susceptible to the external environment. Once they come in contact with the external environment, the chemicals and preservatives start to get degraded. There are some packaged foods, which should be consumed immediately, as it is not good to store them for a longer period. Milk gets spoiled too easily, so it has to be handled with proper care. We will talk about some of the major questions such as why packaged food storage is important.
How to store packaged food?
While it’s not that much harder to store packaged foods, still one must know the basics of how to store packaged food, so that there remains no chance of food contamination or any other such problem. The following are a few tips on how to store packaged food, which is very helpful for every one of us.
- Examine the container/package properly: Food is packaged in many ways. It can be packaged in a can, plastic/paper boxes, PET, wrapping, aseptic processing, pallets, cartons, trays, bags, flexible packaging, etc. When you buy the packaged food from the shopping store, do check if the packaging is properly done or not. Check if the seal is broken, the packaging is the weather, tempered, or altered. If you see, immediately return it and get a new one.
- Check the expiry date: The second most important thing is to check the expiry date of the packaged food. The packaged foods come with chemicals and preservatives which have expiry dates. Don’t buy the expired products or the products which are about to be expired real soon.
- Clear your hands properly: While you open up the food from its packaging, you should wash your hands properly. Some foods are very prone to microbial infections and can get spoiled. So, it is good to keep the food in hygienic conditions.
- Use sterilized/clean instruments to open the food: Some foods come with tight packaging. Such as cold drinks (bottles, cans). Others like a pouch, wrapper, etc. should be removed using a cleaned knife or scissor. Doing so will avoid any kind of external contamination to the food and it will remain safe.
- Store in an airtight container: The packaged food after opening should be transferred to an airtight container as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will start to degenerate. The moist air can give rise to microbial contamination in the food which can spoil the food and health as well.
- Store the container in a proper manner: There are few foods that are required to be stored cold, while some are to be kept away from the direct the sunlight. Kindly read the instructions for storing the food to avoid food spoilage.
- Consume within the time frame: All the packaged foods come with a specific time limit. So, the food should be consumed within the time limit else the food will start to deteriorate. Vegetables should be consumed immediately. Fermented foods also get spoiled too easily.
- Check the taste and texture of food: Regularly check the texture, smell, and flavor of the food. If it starts to get changed, there can be some problems with the food.
These few tips can avoid the spoiling of food, keeping it safe. However, it is not necessary that every packaged food will get spoiled. There are few packaged foods that can last for a longer period (dry fruits). So, store your packaged food properly and enjoy it before it gets spoiled.
