[Food Safety Science] Different types of food have different frozen shelf lives!

Frozen dumplings, frozen meat... Many people have more than one kind of food frozen in their refrigerators. Is it good to keep food frozen for a long time? Does frozen food have a shelf life?

There is also a time limit for freezing food

Cheng Jingmin, a registered dietician of the Chinese Nutrition Society, professor and doctoral supervisor at Shanxi Medical University, said that processed foods that are frozen quickly have little nutritional loss. When stored at a constant temperature of -18°C, the nutritional value of the food remains in an ideal state. However, the damage to food cells caused by ice crystals formed during the freezing process is an objective reality. Over time, it may cause nutritional damage or bacterial growth. Therefore, there is a time limit for food freezing.

Pre-processing determines the shelf life of frozen food

Cheng Jingmin analyzed that how long frozen food can be preserved depends on whether the pre-processing of the food is in place, which has a great impact on the shelf life of frozen food. For example, fresh fish can only be preserved for 1 to 2 months if it is frozen without any processing. If it is scientifically processed before freezing, the shelf life can be extended to half a year.

Common Food Frozen Shelf Life

Red meat, including pork, beef, and mutton, has a shelf life of 10 to 12 months. Beef is more stable than pork and mutton, and lean meat can be preserved longer than fat meat. Poultry meat, including chicken, duck, goose, pigeon, etc., has a slightly shorter shelf life than red meat, which is 8 to 10 months. Seafood and river fish, including fish, shrimp, turtle, etc., have a shorter shelf life than livestock and poultry meat, generally about half a year, and are best eaten within 4 months. Vegetables, including a small number of vegetables such as corn, chestnuts, etc., have a shelf life of about 5 months. Quick-frozen staple foods, including dumplings, buns, glutinous rice balls, etc., are best eaten within one or two months. (Li Jian)

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Source: China Food Safety News

Editor: Li Mengna

Proofreading: Lian Daidai