Is Freezer-Burned Food Safe to Eat?
It’s an ordinary day. You open your freezer
and reach for the ingredients to make a meal: chicken tenders, frozen
veggies, a couple of dinner rolls… But then, you notice signs of freezer
burn. The chicken looks pale and dried out, and the bread and veggies
are all covered in ice crystals. As annoying as it is, freezer burn
happens to everyone. But what do you do in this situation? Do you need
to throw out all that food? It depends.
Learn what freezer burn really is, whether
or not it’s good for you, and how to prevent it here.
What’s freezer burn?
Let’s start by making it clear that freezer-burned foods aren’t
literally “burned.” It’s just the term we use colloquially to describe
frozen foods that dry out when exposed to the cold air in the freezer.
When foods lose their moisture in the freezer, they start looking paler,
shriveled, and their surface may even be covered in ice. Upon thawing
freezer-burned foods, you may notice that their surface is dry and tough
too.
But why?
Freezer burn occurs when foods are not
packaged and sealed properly, and water molecules start evaporating from
the foods very quickly, forming ice crystals on their surface and
destroying the natural texture of the foods. That’s how you get that
leathery crust and ice on foods that have either been in the freezer for
too long or weren’t properly wrapped up.
Freezer burn is more likely to happen if
you’re repeatedly defrosting and refreezing foods, as the water released
during the thawing process will re-freeze on the surface of the food,
causing freezer burn.
How can you tell if your food is
freezer-burned?
Generally speaking, freezer burn makes foods appear drier and less
vibrant, and it can give foods a stale smell or taste too. Foods
affected by freezer burn may also have white scale or crust on their
surface. The longer a specific food is kept frozen, the more likely it
is to develop freezer burn.
This is how freezer burn alters five common types of foods.
Fruits and vegetables have the highest water content of all foods, with
some veggies, such as strawberries and celery, consisting of over 90%
water. This is why freezer burn can dramatically alter the texture and
integrity of frozen vegetables and fruit, causing toughness and
flattened blotches. Thawed frozen fruit and veg will also lose their
texture, as the ice crystals slowly cut and destroy their tissues.
Red meat. The tell-tale sign of
freezer-burned meat is the color. Instead of the usual pink or red
color, the meat will start browning and developing a grayish leathery
crust. All cuts of meat and even ground meat are equally likely to
develop freezer burn.
Poultry and fish also develop beige or grayish leathery crust as a
result of freezer burn.
Fish can develop freezer burn especially fast,
so make sure to use it up as fast as possible. You will notice white or
grey spots at the edges, or in the spaces where the food has been
exposed to air. Poultry is also more likely than red meat or fish to
develop an “off” flavor or smell.
Bread and pasta.
Bread, rolls, pasta, and buns will have dry hard parts
that remain dry even after you unfreeze them. They’re also likely to
smell or taste different since bread is porous and it absorbs flavors
very quickly. It’s especially important to pack baked goods well before
you put them in the freezer, as regular bread bags usually have little
holes in them to vent out the moisture and keep freshly-baked bread
crisp.
Ice cream can get freezer burn too. You will notice that ice crystals
start forming on the surface of the dessert, and the top layer of the
ice cream will also become thicker or completely dehydrate. And for
those of you wondering - yes, freezer burn is a legitimate reason to
finish the entire tub of ice cream as soon as you can.
Is freezer burn safe to eat?
Finally, the question we’ve all been waiting for. Freezer-burned food
definitely has an odd and not-so-pleasant texture. Freezer burn can also
create odd flavors we can only describe as “refrigerator taste.” But
neither these texture changes nor the unpleasant taste makes
freezer-burned foods unhealthy. Freezer burn usually only affects the
surface of the food, and it doesn’t make it lose nutrients or form
toxins, which makes freezer-burned foods technically safe to eat.
“Food with freezer burn is safe unless
repeated thawing and refreezing has allowed microbial spoilage, but that
will be noticeable in other ways,” said Karen M. Schaich, a food
science professor at Rutgers University to Reader’s Digest. This is
another reason why refreezing food is usually not a good idea. Prevent
foodborne illness by only putting fresh food into the freezer and
thawing frozen foods in the refrigerator (and not in the sink or on the
kitchen counter).
How to prevent freezer burn
While freezer-burned foods may be safe to eat, the experience may be a
lot less pleasant due to the texture and flavor changes. If you find
freezer-burned foods unpalatable or bland, here are a few tips that will
help you reduce the chances of freezer burn. First and foremost, set
the freezer temperature to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-17°C) or lower. This
is not only safer for your health, but it will also preserve foods for a
longer period of time.
To prevent freezer burn, follow these tips:
1. Keep your freezer half-full. An overfull freezer means more foods
will stay in the freezer for a long time, so you’ll get more freezer
burn too.
2. No air means no freezer-burned food. Freezer-safe food containers are
better than plastic bags at keeping foods fresh. Zip bags are also
fine, just make sure to squeeze out all the air before freezing.
3. Wrap up the food in an extra layer of plastic wrap or aluminum foil
before sealing it in a container.
4. Avoid defrosting and refreezing foods several times.
5. Ice cream shouldn’t melt every time you crave dessert. Don’t leave
the entire tub on the counter to thaw. Scoop out a portion into a bowl
and put the entire carton back in the freezer!
6. Use frozen foods within a couple of months. If tracking dates is
difficult, simply write down the date on the packaging with a permanent
marker. Also make sure to keep the oldest frozen foods in the front, so
that they get used up faster.