Nutrient Loss: How Improper Food Freezing Affects Your Health
Refrigerator freezing to preserve food has been a godsend for Helen Uduak, a busy bank employee.
The 41 year-old mother of four told THE WHISTLER that due to the nature of her job, she usually stores food in her freezer for up to one year or more to save her the time and energy of cooking all the time.
“The food is still good for consumption whenever I bring it out of the freezer. It saves me a lot of stress,” she said.
Uduak is not alone in this practice. For Mrs. Margret Udeh, cooking in large quantities and storing in the freezer has been a lifesaver.
“I rarely cook or go to market for food stuff in three months,” she explained.
“My work does not give me that chance. I stock my freezer with what will serve us for long; different soups and stews that will last us long enough. My own is to bring out and heat it when needed.”
The emergence of technology in the present time has come to solve the problem of food spoilage suffered over the years with the invention of electrical appliances called freezers and refrigerators.
However, like so many other things, its misuse can lead to unintended consequences. Experts say that the prolonged storage and inappropriate packaging of foods in freezers can harbor hidden dangers that might be a threat to the health.
During this year’s World Food Safety Day, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Moji Adeyeye, had urged Nigerians to refrain from storing cooked food in the refrigerator for more than three days.
Adeyeye had warned that cooked food stored in the refrigerator for days is susceptible to contamination by disease-causing pathogens, key agents of foodborne diseases that can lead to death.
However, a lecturer from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Prof. Rufina Ayogu, during an interview with THE WHISTLER, stated that food can be preserved in the freezer but warned that certain things must be considered.
“Knowing the temperature at which your freezer works helps you to understand the mechanisms in foods stored in the freezer. Another important thing is how well the foods are packaged. Proper packaging helps to preserve the food. Inappropriate packaging interferes with the temperature of the food. It’s very important to understand the mechanism of foods in the freezers, which will help with the knowledge of the effects on the nutrient quality of foods in the freezer,” she said.
She added that, “how you stock the freezer matters. If the freezer is well stocked, there will be good circulation of air in the freezer and everything in the freezer will have good ventilation right round it. Such a freezer shouldn’t be opened frequently to avoid temperature interference. This implies the need to have more than one freezer.”
THE WHISTLER while on interaction with people found out that many people do not consider that the misuse of this food storage system can lead to harmful effects on the food.
With the system of power supply in Nigeria, one of the primary concerns associated with long-term food storage is the gradual deterioration of nutrients.
Vitamins and minerals which are essential for human well-being, are sensitive to temperature fluctuations and oxidation.
Ayogu explained that, “Freezers freeze at a very low temperature, thereby making it difficult for micro-organism to thrive, and this keeps the food safe from microbial spoilage. Prolonged food storage affects two major things, the organoleptic attribute and nutrient quality.”
She further stated that, “If one is living in a place where there is adequate and constant power supply, one can store food for one year, two years, indefinitely and nothing happens to the food. Chemically, microbially and organoleptically, the food will still be intact.
“But if there is constant change in temperature, enzymatic browning will occur and there could be change in color, taste, texture, flavor, some will even turn slimy, showing that there is some degree of spoilage.
“Foods that stay long in freezers, and have been subjected to power outage, sometimes two days, three days or even more, can no longer be vouched for that the nutrient composition is intact.
“Foods do not undergo any chemical reaction in the freezer that can interfere with the nutrient. The only place problem that will arise is when the temperature is interfered with, due to power failure. The spoilage then is with the food not with the nutrient.”
The professor emphasised the need for a thermometer in freezers to help keep track of the temperature in the case of frequent power outages.
“This is because in the case of power outages that sometimes last for three days and more, one cannot tell the extent at which the food defrosted before freezing back,” she explained.
She added that when it is said that prolonged storage of foods in the freezer is bad, it is relative to power supply.
“However, if foods stored in freezers last for one year, two years, the nutrients are okay but the organoleptic attribute may be lost,” she said.
Nutrient Loss: How Improper Food Freezing Affects Your Health is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
