Meal Prep Safety Tips

Label and Date Everything  

Everything that’s prepped and stored for later should be labeled clearly. Most importantly, you will need to know what’s in the container and when you made it. If you’re meal prepping using a refrigerator, the dates are incredibly important as food tends to perish much more quickly in the refrigerator. While some foods can seemingly last an eternity in the fridge, this certainly isn’t true for all foods—especially unprocessed foods like fruits, veggies, and meats, which tend to be favorites of meal preppers. If you’re making a lot of freezer meals, you’ll need to make sure that the food you’ve made is clearly labeled and dated as well. You may have heard that food in the freezer will last indefinitely—but that’s not always the case, especially if your freezer isn’t cold enough. Furthermore, food from the freezer might actually be safe to eat, but the quality may have substantially gone down. Therefore, it’s important to clearly label and date everything that goes in the freezer, especially since it can become very difficult to determine what’s in there once the food becomes frozen. 

Temperature Matters 

A lot of people view the freezer as an anti-food poisoning machine that freezes time and preserves food forever. As previously mentioned, many have claimed that food in the freezer stays safe to eat indefinitely. This isn’t always true, however. If your freezer isn’t cold enough, loses power, or there’s hot food placed in the freezer, the food can become unsafe to eat. If you plan on meal prepping in a freezer, make sure that your freezer is cold enough to handle the preservation. It’s not uncommon for people to buy a chest freezer to store their prepared food. This is a great idea for some, but the location of your chest freezer does matter. If you want to store a chest freezer outside, for example, you will need to purchase a chest freezer that is capable of being stored outside. Check to see if the chest freezer can withstand the temperatures in your area, as many cannot be left outside in extreme heat, and it’s not uncommon for chest freezers to need to be indoors to function properly. 

Wash Your Hands 

Food poisoning can happen in the freezer, especially if the food becomes contaminated during its preparation. You should always wash your hands before cooking to prevent contamination. This is especially important if you’ve worked with raw ingredients such as poultry or pork that could contaminate your food. It’s also important to thoroughly clean any dishes you use during the preparation of your meals. Dirty dishes can also contaminate your food, making it unsafe to thaw and reheat. Not only should you wash your hands and the dishes you use to prepare the food, but you’ll also need to wash the produce you’re preparing. A lot of people believe that freezers kill germs. This is not true. Freezers can stop the growth of bacteria, thus preventing food from perishing, but a freezer will not kill germs. Therefore, it is important to wash your produce, hands, and dishes before meal prepping. 

Air-Tight Containers 

If you’re meal prepping in a refrigerator, air-tight containers will be an especially important part of keeping your food safe to eat. Air-tight containers don’t just keep your food fresh. They also help prevent mold from growing in your food, cross contamination, and more. You may see people use cling wrap to wrap up some leftover food and put it in the fridge. Depending on what’s left over, this may be acceptable for a short period of time. However, if you’re truly meal prepping for the future, cling wrap is likely not going to be an acceptable solution for a lack of an air-tight container. This is because air-tight containers help prevent extra moisture from getting into the food, which can cause mold to grow.  

If It Smells Funky… 

If it doesn’t look right, taste right, or smell right, that may be your sign to throw it out. While food poisoning isn’t usually deadly, that doesn’t mean that it can’t make you seriously ill. Many people have been hospitalized due to food poisoning, and some have even passed away due to food poisoning, even though that is generally uncommon. Remember, just because a lot of people say that a freezer will keep food safe to eat indefinitely doesn’t mean that it’s true for every freezer, every situation, and every food. Just because it was frozen doesn’t automatically mean it’s safe to eat forever. Do not assume that something is safe to eat indefinitely just because you froze it. 

Keeping Our Communities Safe

At Moxie Law Group, we’re dedicated to providing resources that keep those in our communities safe. It is our mission to provide information that is able to help people prevent injury and preventable illness whenever possible. Unfortunately, injuries do still occur. If you have been injured, and you’re looking for an attorney who can help you get the compensation you need, contact Moxie Law Group today for a free consultation.