How to preserve frozen and refrigerated New Year’s dishes? Let the leftovers cool and then refrigerate? Nutritionists teach you how to prevent bacteria from growing

The Spring Festival is approaching, and every household is busy buying New Year's dishes. However, New Year's dishes can be divided into two types: frozen dishes and refrigerated dishes. How should they be preserved? It often causes great trouble to the people. Ouyang Wenting, a nutritionist at Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, analyzed that when purchasing frozen New Year's Eve meals, one must confirm whether they are in a rock-hard frozen state when picking up the goods, and then store them according to the "frozen to keep frozen, refrigerated to keep refrigerated" method, and reheat them according to the method informed by the business. If the New Year's Eve meals purchased are refrigerated or ready-to-eat foods, they should be eaten as soon as possible to avoid improper storage, bacterial growth, and poisoning.

If frozen food feels a little soft, watery, or has a wet surface, it may mean that the temperature was not low enough during transportation and it has already thawed and should not be purchased or eaten. In addition, whether the packaging material is PP (polypropylene triangle symbol with 5 written in the middle) or PE (polyethylene triangle symbol with 2 written in the middle), they all have their own uses. If it is not clearly marked "microwaveable", it is recommended to put the food in a microwave container first, and then microwave or steam it to avoid direct heating in plastic containers.

Nutritionist Ouyang Wenting reminds that when preserving general food ingredients, in order to avoid repeated thawing and spoilage, they should be packaged and then frozen, taking out the required amount for cooking each time; if unprocessed meat and fruits and vegetables need to be refrigerated at the same time, it is recommended to put the meat on the lower layer and the fruits and vegetables on the upper layer to avoid cross infection caused by dripping blood.

Myth: Should unfinished New Year’s Eve meals be left to cool before being refrigerated?

In addition, people often have the following confusion: "Unfinished New Year's Eve meals should be left to cool before being refrigerated." According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s "Hygiene and Safety Promotion Manual for Low-Temperature Food Logistics Operators," temperatures between 7-60°C are dangerous temperatures, and many bacteria and microorganisms will grow and multiply rapidly. It is recommended that New Year's Eve meals be heated to boiling before consumption, and any unfinished meals should be refrigerated as soon as possible, and should not be kept in the refrigerator for more than 2 days.

Myth: After cooking rice in a rice cooker, will it keep it warm until the next meal?

Nutritionist Ouyang Wenting suggested that some people are used to using rice cookers to keep cooked rice warm until the next meal. In fact, rice cookers can only keep the temperature at 40-50 degrees, which is also within the dangerous temperature range. It is recommended that rice cookers should only be used to cook rice or reheat food. Rice that is not finished should be refrigerated or frozen, and then reheated or fried before eating.

Nutritionist Ouyang Wenting mentioned that if the New Year's dishes you buy are refrigerated or ready-to-eat foods, they should be eaten as soon as possible to avoid improper storage and bacterial growth. (Photo courtesy of Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital)

In addition, microwave ovens heat food by generating high heat through the vibration of water molecules inside the food. It often happens that the inside of the food is cooked after microwave heating, but the outside is still cold. Ouyang Wenting suggested that the food can be heated in multiple times, stirring it each time to ensure even heating. As for the air fryers that have become popular in recent years, the principle is to use high temperature and heat convection to heat food. However, overheating of food can easily produce some carcinogens due to chemical reactions of nutrients, such as acrylamide. She recommends that the temperature should not exceed 180°C, the heating time should not be too long, and the number of times it is used per week should not exceed 3 times.

Nutritionist Ouyang Wenting finally reminded that people who usually eat a lot of meat and fish should eat more vegetables during the Chinese New Year to make the nutrients more balanced, but they should be careful not to cook at too high a temperature to avoid the loss of vitamin B, vitamin C, and folic acid, so that they can have a healthy new year.

👉Recommended reading: Pay attention to the temperature of the Spring Festival dishes and have a happy New Year with peace of mind! How to store refrigerated and frozen foods?