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12
Reasons Why Frozen Foods are Best for your Household
- Availability
Within hours of picking, fresh fruits and vegetables are processed
and quick frozen to prevent any deterioration of flavor, quality,
texture or nutrition. And frozen, which remains virtually unchanged
in storage, eliminates losses experienced from spoilage and
shrinkage. Frozen at the peak of perfection, there is presently
no better method of food preservation. Seasonal limitations
are a part of the past.
- Convenience
Frozen foods are truly convenient. The cleaning, picking, dicing,
chopping and squeezing has been done. Whatever you choose, it's
all prepared, ready to take from your freezer, heat and serve.
- Economy
Frozen foods are economical. You do not pay for stalks, pits,
skins, rinds or damaged food. Edible ounce for edible ounce,
frozen food costs are usually less than their fresh counterparts.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study, five of
the six vegetables tested, all available either canned, fresh
or frozen, were cheapest when purchased frozen. Through price
fluctuations, fresh produce can cost 99 cents at the beginning
of the season, 39 cents at mid-season and then with no explanation,
jump up again. With frozen foods, there are no such widely varying
prices.
Frozen prepared foods also compare favorably to their homemade
counterparts. The real cost of preparing a food at home must
take into account all the ingredients used in preparation. For
example, to bake a cake would mean buying flour, sugar, eggs,
shortening, spices or flavoring, and whatever else might be
needed to make a frosting or topping. These can add up to quite
an expensive cake. If you are an infrequent baker and will not
use the remaining ingredients, frozen baked goods probably are
a better buy.
- Food
Safety
Frozen foods offer explicit cooking directions, leaving no room
for error and under-cooked food. And because the preparation
(dicing, chopping, etc.) has already been done, all you have
to do is heat and serveless chance for contamination in
the preparation process.
- Freshness
Freezing foods seals in freshness. Foods designed for the freezer
are selected at their peak of nutrition and flavor, quickly
processed and frozen within hours, before there has been any
deterioration in quality.
- Labeling
Frozen food packages tell you what you're eating. Packages have
ingredient and nutrition labeling. If you're health conscious,
counting calories or on doctor's orders, frozen foods can help.
- Longer Storage
Frozen foods have a longer storage time than fresh, offering
maximum flexibility. Frozen broccoli, for example, stays fresh
in the freezer for up to eight months, whereas fresh broccoli
usually must be consumed within a week.
- No Waste
With frozen foods you have food that is 100 percent edible.
You don't pay for waste such as the pits of fruits, the shells,
peels and outer leaves of vegetables, bones in fish or the fat
on the meat. Studies of 13 vegetables show that as much as 40
percent of a raw vegetable is lost in shelling and peeling before
the vegetable is ready for cookingand that's 40 percent
of the produce you've paid for.
According to the U.S. Census Department, more than half the
households in the country today consist of only one or two people.
Many frozen products have been created especially for these
households. There are single-serving side dishes, entrees and
desserts. There is no waste since there are no leftovers. Individual
servings also make it possible for each member of the family
to eat his or her favorite dish, without the time and expense
of preparing large quantities of each of the foods.
In addition, frozen foods in poly bags (vegetables, fruits,
pasta) offer easy portion control. Just pour out the amount
needed and return the rest to the freezer for future use.
- Nutrition
There's no better known means of preserving food than by freezing.
Commercial rapid-freezing processes maintain nutritional quality
of products without chemical preservatives. And food quick-frozen
and properly stored keep their high nutritional value.
- Quality
Frozen foods are consistent in quality. Only the best ingredients
are used. That's because of stringent industry quality control
procedures that begin on the farm.
- Taste
Frozen foods can pass the most discriminating taste tests. An
entree which has been correctly formulated, maintained at 0°F.
and heated according to manufacturer's specifications, should
taste identical to an on-premise prepared item. The recipes
formulated for use in frozen prepared foods are created by some
of the world's finest chefs. Immediately following preparation,
freezing ensures consistently uniform product quality in each
and every serving.
- Value
Because frozen foods fit the way people live and eat today,
they offer incomparable value in a number of ways: dollar savings,
nutrition and quality, time savings and energy saving.
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