Perishable product: classification, features of storage and implementation

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The category of perishable products includes those that need special conditions for storage, transportation and sale. What products are perishable, how to properly store and transport them, read in the article.

What does the expiration date on the package mean?

This is such a period of time during which all the properties of the product are saved. In short, this is a time-limited period of use of products. It is set by GOST, where the first date on the label indicates the manufacture of the product, and the second indicates its expiration date or the date after which the product irreversibly changes its properties and becomes unsuitable for consumption.

Classification by expiration date

On this basis, all products are divided into the following types:

• Extremely perishable are products that cannot be stored in conditions where low temperatures are not maintained. Their shelf life is limited. These products can be stored for six to seventy-two hours.

• Perishable product - with a shelf life of three to thirty days at a temperature not exceeding six degrees.

• Not perishable - such products can be stored without observing the temperature regime for a month or more. Under the condition of storage, sunlight on food and humidity are taken into account.

Which foods are considered perishable?

This category includes products that can be stored under a special temperature regime. They need to be implemented in a short time. Storage conditions and terms of storage of different products are different.

Perishables include:

• Cheese, baked milk, heat-treated cottage cheese. Their shelf life does not exceed five days.
• Mixes of milk and boiled sausages in airtight packaging. They can be stored for ten days.

Which products are particularly perishable?

They are stored only in conditions with low temperatures. Particularly perishable products are:

• Natural dairy products - can be stored up to thirty-six hours. If the manufacturing technology provides for the addition of preservatives and vacuum packaging, then their shelf life is extended.
• Chilled fish - up to twenty-four hours, provided that the temperature is from zero to minus two degrees.
• Meat products - no more than forty-eight hours.
• Frozen fish - at the same temperature as chilled, only its shelf lifeexpiration date is forty-eight hours.
• Salads seasoned - up to twelve hours.
• Cakes until sixteen, cakes until seventy-two.

Freezer storage

To save food for a long time, they need to be frozen. Freezers are designed to store fish, meat, frozen fruits, vegetables, berries, mushrooms. But they are not stored indefinitely, the period of use also ends.

However, it is possible to keep a perishable product so that it is fresh and suitable for consumption. To do this, consider the following recommendations:

• Products must be sealed. For this purpose, special containers for freezing are suitable. They are easy to buy in the store, focusing on the type and quantity of the product.
• Portions should be made such that it is enough for one time. Do not repeatedly defrost and refreeze food, especially meat or vegetables.
• Each perishable product must be marked with the date it was placed in the chamber. This is necessary in order to consume the product no later than two to three months from the moment of freezing. Longer storage times are not allowed.

Shelf life of perishable products

For each type of food, they differ significantly. What is the shelf life of perishable foods in freezers?

• sausage products and sauces are recommended to be stored no more thantwo months;
• raw frozen meat can be stored for a long time, a whole year;
• meat and poultry chopped into pieces - up to nine months;
• semi-finished products, minced fish and meat - about four months.

Individual products lose their taste after defrosting. For example, milk and products of its processing, such as butter, cheese, sour cream, are also frozen, but the quality of their taste changes for the worse. If food has passed its expiration date, and its smell, taste or appearance after defrosting is in doubt, it is better to throw everything away.

Refrigerated shelf life

This type of household appliances is designed to extend the shelf life of products and their freshness for a short time. What perishable foods are stored in the refrigerator? Here are some of them:

• chilled meat, smoked sausage, milk, cream, fermented milk products - three days;
• boiled sausage, chilled and fried fish - two days;
• undressed salads - twelve hours;
• ready-made vegetable dishes - one day.

Confectionery stuffed with protein cream or fruit should be stored no more than three days; from creamy - one and a half days; custard - six hours.

Storage conditions for perishable foods, even in the refrigerator, are different. The packaging must be sealed. For this purpose, usecontainers, foil or paper. Polyethylene bags are not recommended.

Storage of perishable products is carried out depending on the location of the shelf in the refrigerator. The closer it is to the freezer, the colder it is. Door shelves are considered the warmest place. Products with a shorter shelf life are placed on the top shelf, the rest - taking into account the increase in shelf life. The bottom drawers are designed for fruits and vegetables and do not require wrapping.

How to avoid eating junk food?

When buying food products, you should pay attention to the expiration date indicated on the label.

A few tips regarding product quality:

• Buy perishable goods at the market in the morning before they melt.
• When buying products in the store, you need to inspect the label for peeling off. If there are traces of glue, then the product was relabeled, as its expiration date has expired. You do not need to buy such products.
• If any product smells bad, it is damaged, you should not buy it.
• When the product is unpacked, the expiration date decreases. Therefore, it is better to eat it immediately or put it in the refrigerator for the short time indicated on the label.
• If there is any doubt about the quality of the product, it is better not to buy it.
• If possible, arrange heat treatment for products.

Transportation of perishable products

Before transporting this categoryproducts, you need to know on what grounds they are classified. Perishable product comes in different origins:

• vegetable - this category includes vegetables and fruits;
• animal - fish, meat and milk;
• products of their processing - fermented milk, sausages, fats.

By mode of transportation:

• frozen - transportation is carried out at -6oС;
• chilled - products are transported at a temperature of -5oC.

For the transportation of perishable products, different modes of transport are used, but in any of them there must be one temperature regime. Specialized isothermal vehicles are vehicles with or without a trailer. The body walls, door, roof, floor are made of thermally insulating materials that limit heat transfer between two surfaces: external and internal. These include:

• Ice-cars whose cold source is ice of natural origin.
• Refrigerated vehicles - have a refrigeration unit that allows you to maintain the temperature in a given mode.
• Road trains, the bodies of which are divided into sections and equipped with refrigeration units. They have microprocessors that automatically regulate the temperature.

Each vehicle must meet hygiene requirements, for which the inner walls of the body have a treatable coating. Its disinfection is carried out at least once every tendays.

Marking

There is a huge variety of product names. Each of them has its own labeled packaging. It indicates how long the product is good for. On the packaging of especially perishable products, the full date of manufacture is applied: time, day, month. Labeling of perishable products includes only the month and day. Non-perishable products are only marked with the month and year of manufacture.

The packaging must indicate information about storage conditions. The packaging itself must be intact, uncontaminated, with a clear indication of the expiration date or date of manufacture.