Life after death: 9 types of products that are sold under the guise of fresh
The path of food from the garden to the counter or from the factory conveyor to the store shelf today can be tens, hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. Therefore, the concept of "fresh food" is now becoming more and more extensible. British journalists shocked the public: we found out how many "fresh" products are actually in stores.
The British Daily Mail conducted an experiment: 12 samples of "fresh" fish were purchased in four hypermarkets. The examinations showed that a third of the samples were older than ten days, six were at the limit of an acceptable level (7-10 days) and only two were really fresh, that is, not older than 2-3 days.
The theme of the three-week fish went well. Published data according to which the "freshness" of most products on the shelf is nothing more than a myth — simply because of the time of delivery and processing. Imports from agricultural countries with a more favorable climate displace local products, and local products can go to the shelf longer than imported ones.
British experts say that the age of "young" potatoes can be up to seven months, in general, potatoes can be sold at the age of more than a year. In most countries (and in Russia too) as such, there are no requirements for the shelf life of vegetables and fruits, it is simply prohibited to trade products with signs of rotting. And potatoes, thanks to the processing that suppresses germination, are really stored for a long time. However, "normal" is still considered a period of no more than two hundred days.
The existence of fresh seafood is possible only in the producing countries. Even if the product is sold under the guise of fresh, most likely, it was simply defrosted. So, he could swim in the sea a year ago.
According to Russian standards, the period of sale of an ordinary egg is 25 days, a dietary egg is 7. However, the British article states that an egg can only be considered fresh for the first 10 days, after that it becomes more liquid and loses its consumer properties. In fact, a significant part of the eggs ends up on the shelf after this period or close to its end.
The age of the UK's popular chilled meat from New Zealand is at least two months old — it just won't get there before. And this is not the limit: New Zealand and Australia have developed technologies that allow storing chilled meat for up to 180 days. Even without going into technology, one might suspect that frozen meat is probably the best alternative.
Russia, it would seem, can exhale — we import mainly frozen meat. Of course, there is cooling even from such remote countries as Brazil, but it accounts for such a small share that, perhaps, meat is still delivered by air. But in any case, the timing is not magical — at least 2-3 days, which for a "fresh" product means a quick approach to the category of stale.
There is nothing to guarantee that the meat produced by local native farmers will get you on the shelf fresh. In the UK, it was estimated that meat can get there in 3-4 weeks after slaughter. It is unlikely that Russian farmers and suppliers are much faster.
Thanks to such a substance as methylcyclopropene, apples can be harvested while they are not yet ripe, and stored for up to six months. And therefore, with urgent delivery, you can not worry (that is, they will not worry). To estimate the approximate age of an apple in some cases, you can understand a little about the varieties. For example, if you buy Granny Smith in July, then it's definitely a few months old — this variety is winter.
Bananas from Latin America get to the UK in 11 days. To Russia, judging by various offers of transport companies, the delivery time is only from Ecuador to St. Petersburg can be the same, and two and a half times more. Plus customs clearance and further logistics. No matter how beautiful and yellow the bananas on the shelf look, they live out their last days, if they have not already exceeded all the expiration dates.
Milk is delivered to the dairy from the farm only after undergoing a certain treatment that cleanses it from bacteria and regulates fat content. It may take several days before it gets to the dairy. Total: even if today's date is on the package, the milk is at least two days old. Here we are from The UK is hardly any different.
And finally, fresh vegetables. With all the variety, their shelf life is 7-14 days. If a salad from Spain gets to the UK in only 4 days, then imagine how long it will take him to get to Of Russia.
What conclusion can be drawn from this? Definitely not the one that humanity will see the light and return, for example, to freezing — in this case, the product was fresh at least at the time of processing. If the climate on the planet does not change or transport services suddenly do not become cheaper, the production of pseudo-fresh products will develop and acquire new technologies. We still have a lot of vegetables and fruits that are sold in season in the old way (for example, zucchini, apricots or cherries). There is a lot to develop.