Siquijor-- COVID 19 has significantly affected and transformed people's daily lives amid significant shifts in behavior related to change and rebalance the way they purchase and stockpile food for consumption. This is a time to reflect on what we eat and how it promotes our well-being. With that in mind, we wanted to make sure you are storing any extra food correctly to preserve all the vitamins, maintain flavor, the quality, nutritional value of food and also reduce food waste. More importantly, proper food preservation allows for fewer trips to the grocery store, therefore saving time, reducing food waste, and less time spent in public places during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So here are friendly tips you need to know about DO’s and DON’Ts of freezing foods to ensure you get the best quality.

Freezer DO’s Tips:

• Freeze food as quickly as you can to prevent microbial growth.
• Make sure your freezer temperature is below 0 degrees F, to prevent the growth of spoilage organisms and to minimize changes in flavor, texture and nutrition value of food.
• Keep foods inside the freezer with label and date.
• Use the right containers: Proper packaging material protects the flavor, color, moisture content and nutritive value of frozen foods from the freezer. Use vacuum- sealers on meat and fish and poultry to prevent rancidity
• Do freeze foods in individual portions. It’s beneficial since you can thaw only what you need, and it shortens thawing time.
• Thaw food in the fridge overnight is the safest way. Remember, transfer from freezer to fridge the night before to give it plenty of time. 
• “Blanch” your vegetables immediately after you finish boiling or steaming them, cool the vegetables down in ice water to prevent further cooking. That’s how you get the best quality from your frozen vegetables while destroying microorganisms on their surfaces.

  Freezer DON’T’s Tips:

• DON’T freeze food while hot. Always cool food to room temperature before storing it in the freezer as a safety precaution
• Don’t keep your food frozen at above-zero temperatures
• Don’t freeze vegetables that have a high-water content. Nutrients may not be affected but the food texture is more likely to change. 
• Don’t refreeze food once thawed. Thawing and refreezing causes damage to the cells in food and making it less palatable and less nutritious. Once food is defrosted, microorganisms will multiply again making the food unsafe to eat.
• Don’t overload your freezer with too much unfrozen food. It will result in slow freezing and poor-quality result.
• Don’t keep your food inside the freezer unlabeled.

With these friendly tips on preserving foods, it will enable you to create delicious, flavorful, and nutritious food at home that can be enjoyed anytime. Thus, freezing is a great way to store food in most economical way. It could also do wonders for everyone especially for every working mom with busy schedule and don’t have much time cooking delicious meals for their family and children who demand a lot of attention for healthy nutrition and leisure time which is very difficult to keep. // ND II Karen F. Abe RND