In today’s highly technologically advanced world, it’s no wonder that food storage practices have been greatly improved with the continued development of large-scale storage facilities like temperature-controlled warehouses.
At Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Company, we understand the importance of cold storage and our own role in global food safety. Not only do warehouses like ours protect your product from damage and premature spoiling, they also promote continued improvement of food processing from the farm to the shelf.
With a quality temperature-controlled warehouse, foods of all kinds can provide healthy, nutritional, and tasty options to consumers year-round and eliminate the chances of foodborne illnesses.
The process of freezing foods is one of the most useful tools of food processors for protection of food integrity and overall nutritional value. While some nutrients are lost in the freezing process, the large majority of nutritional makeup of any given food is maintained from freeze to thaw.
Nutritional values maintained in the freezing process include:
- Proteins
- Carbohydrates (simple and complex)
- Fats
- Most vitamins (with the exception of vitamins C and B in the pre-freezing blanching of vegetables and vitamin C in frozen fresh fruits)
- Antioxidants (with the exception of some water-soluble antioxidants in blanched vegetables)
- Water content (though some cells will break down in the freezing process, the moisture content is maintained)
For areas of the world that don’t have access to many types of fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, frozen produce is the largest source of necessary vitamins and minerals, including important nutritional factors like calcium and iron.
Freezing all types of food products and storing them in a temperature-controlled warehouse also eliminates many types of bacteria, viruses, and other foodborne diseases with the use of a pre-cooking process like blanching, cooking, or baking. Rapid freezing processes like blast room freezing quickly transitions a product into a frozen state, highly minimizing the chances of any pathogens infecting a food.
In addition to the protection of the quality and original state of food products, temperature-controlled warehouses also protect the frozen condition of stored goods. Proper storage and elimination of any cross contamination or over-freezing of foods in a temperature-controlled warehouse like ours prevents chances of “freezer burn” or other causes of flavor change when thawed. Freezer burn or other similar effects are caused by partial thawing and refreezing, but with continual, stable temperature control, there’s no risk of that occurring.
Overall, freezing, refrigerating, or dry storing of food goods in a quality climate-controlled warehouse is an option for protecting virtually all food types. Fresh or prepared food products will be kept at optimal conditions in a warehouse like ours, and consumers can trust what they thaw in their kitchens to be safe and healthy for them and their families.
To learn more about our capabilities as a temperature-controlled warehouse in the Upper Midwest, contact MFWC at (507) 373-1477 or info@mfwc-cold.com today.