Thursday, August 18, 2011

Important Facts About Extending Shelf Life for Survival Food

By Troy Butcher


There are a number of important keys to look at when determining your long term food storage plan. One of the more important aspects to consider is shelf life. The amount of time that your survival food can remain on your food storage shelf without having to change it out is defined as shelf life.

In general, food is perishable, and the same thing holds true with food storage. Emergency food storage tends to fail because of the need to rotate it. Difficulties surround long term food storage because of the size and weight of the food.

Some survival food products carry a longer duration than others. The ingredients, how the food was prepared and packaged are all factors that make up length of time that a food can sit on a shelf. In order to achieve a successful emergency food supply, you have to look for food storage options that allow for 10 or more years sitting on a shelf without rotating. Ideally you could get many additional years out of your food storage products.

There are companies in the marketplace today that advertise up to 25 years shelf life. The longer your food can stay on the shelf without spoiling, the better. Some of you might wonder what do you give up in order to achieve this longer length of time. The simple answer is you shouldn't have to give up anything. Food that is prepared using freeze dried and dehydrated methods can keep your food the same way it was before the freeze dried process. The process of reconstituting can bring a meal that was prepared prior to freeze dried back to it's original flavor. So, there is no reason to sacrifice nutrition and taste to achieve the longer length of time. The packaging of the food also can play a factor. Removing the air of oxygen and replacing it with nitrogen can keep foods fresh for a much longer period of time. This process sometimes known as nitrogen flushing can keep a food already with a long term food storage lifespan and increase it.

Containers that store the food can aid in lengthening the shelf life and improving things like that amount of space needed for storage. Qualities like air tightness and UV resistance can aid the shelf life. Something that can really affect how long even a freeze dried food can last without spoiling is heat. So the location of where you store your food and the container the food is in are important points. Food storage maintains optimal in mild temperatures. Storing the food in your basement is perfect.

In conclusion, building your emergency food storage plans requires you to take a close look at the shelf life. A focus should be made on foods that can last as along as twenty-five years. Products like these are abundant in the market today, so be sure to search them out.




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