Food storage involves the storing of raw and cooked foods in well-suited environs for future use. Proper food storage is crucial to ensure sufficient food supply at household and national levels. It aims to ensure that a food remains in good condition for as long as possible until ready for use. In this post, we will focus on food storage at household level.
Difference between food preservation and food spoilage
Food preservation is the process of putting foods in appropriate conditions to prevent spoilage and extend shelf-life while food storage is storing foods for future use. While both methods aim to ensure a consistent supply of food for extended periods, with storage, the intent is to keep foods so that they are in the best condition for longest time possible.
Usually, food storage is undertaken after a food has already been preserved. To illustrate, you may purchase a canned food (has undergone preservation) then store it as per storage directions indicated on its label. It could be that you are required to store the canned food in a dry place or in a cool place, or maybe away from light etc.
Importance of food storage
- To preserve the quality of foods- A well- stored food maintains its nutritive value, texture, taste etc.
- Maintain the freshness of foods- Good storage allows a food to maintain its freshness for longer.
- Allow access to certain foods even during scarcity-Foods in storage can be accessed when they are scarce.
Reasons for storing food
- To avail food throughout annually-Storing foods allows their availability through different seasons.
- Minimize food wastage -Instead of discarding food wastefully , storing allows you to keep it for later use.
- Allow easy transport and distribution to far areas-When foods are properly stored, they become easy to transport and distribute to various areas, even those that are far away.
The different qualities of foods are essential to how they will be stored. Hence, you should identify whether a food is perishable, non-perishable or semi-perishable to employ best storage methods that can maintain its quality for longest possible.
Non- perishable foods are those that do not easily spoil and can last for long durations. They include: pulses, cereals, spices, salt, sugar etc.
Cereals and pulses should be thoroughly cleaned to extract any foreign materials before sun-drying them then storing them into clean containers.
Semi-perishables also last for some time but not as long as non-perishables. They include; seeds, fruits, roots and tubers, cereal products etc.
Preferably store ripe fruits in a plastic bag in a refrigerator to prevent further ripening. Less ripe fruits can be stored in a basket and covered to prevent drying.
Perishable foods are those that easily spoil and need more precaution when handling, including meats, milk, eggs, vegetables etc.
Eggs should be stored in a refrigerator at chilling temperatures, while meats including pork, poultry, fish, beef etc should be frozen at temperatures below -6°C.
Notice that organ meats including kidneys, heart etc and ground meat will generally spoil faster than other meats. Therefore, they should preferably be consumed readily or stored 1-2 days in refrigerator.
Milk can be stored at room temperature for only 24 hours. To last longer, it can be stored at temperatures below 4°C in the refrigerator.
Vegetables especially leafy vegetables should be consumed immediately due to their tendency to easily spoil. Other vegetables including cooked lentils can be stored in the refrigerator; though, when raw, others like peas will continue to ripen. Other vegetables like broccoli , potatoes, celery etc are best stored in cool places- in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.
Pests, insects and rodents
Also take into account the impact of insects, rodents and pests as well as their contribution to food spoilage. Thus, when storing foods ensure that they are covered to prevent contact with house flies and cockroaches that can contaminate foods; and in the case of cockroaches , even cause infections such as diarrhoea. Rodents e.g. rats can cause infections and decrease the quantity of food in storage.
Proper food storage is important to ensure that food can be utilized for future use, or when in short supply. For a successful storage, the key objective is that a food is closest to what it was initially in that its properties such as texture, appearance, taste and nutritive value remain intact or are not significantly interfered with, when it is ready for consumption.