Welcome to the world of preppers!
Since you are reading this blog post, it’s safe to say that you take prepping for your family quite seriously.
And that’s great! After all, everyone needs to be prepared for potential emergencies, whether they realize it or not. The most crucial emergency preparation starts with having substantial food storage for you and your loved ones.
But when you store your food, certain factors can affect the quality of the food. Whether you store your food in Mylar bags or use food-grade buckets, the place where you store your preps is detrimental to the quality of the food itself.
Here are five factors that can affect the quality of food over time, and will also help you determine the right place for storage.
- Moisture
High moisture can degrade food quality so much so that it can become inedible. Moisture is also responsible for growth of bacteria, fungi, and/or insects in a variety of food items. So, your basement might not be the best option for storing food. Basements are especially prone to moisture.
In short, you need to store your food in a place that has little too no moisture. A general rule of thumb is to store food in a place that has less than 10% moisture.
- Temperature
Another factor that effects the quality of food over time is temperature fluctuations. For every 10.8 degree rise in temperature, the shelf-life of your food decreases by half, as per United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Hence, places in your house that experience temperature fluctuations, such as your garage, are not an ideal place to store food. The ideal temperature for storing food is between 40 and 60 degrees.
- Oxygen
Another factor that affects the shelf life of food is oxygen. If there is ample oxygen in the place where you store food, there is a high chance that insect larvae could develop and spoil your food over time. Also, oxygen can cause oxidation which spoils food over time. Therefore, you must remove oxygen for better storage.
For example, you can use a Mylar bag with oxygen absorbers to store your food items. You could also try lining a food-grade bucket with Mylar bags and use oxygen absorbers to store food items long-term.
- Light
You need to make sure that you store your food in a space that has no light. Light can also deteriorate the quality of food by breaking down nutrients. Hence, storing food in dark places will increase the shelf life.
- Containers
You need to ensure that food is stored in food-grade containers to avoid spoiling food. You can use food-grade containers such as 10can, food storage buckets with an airtight seal, food storage drums made of metal, or plastic-lined with food-grade material such as Mylar bags.
Bottom Line
Food storage is essential to emergency preparedness, and you need to consider these factors for efficient long-term food storage.
Here at Wallaby Goods, we want to support your efforts to be the most efficient prepper possible!
Our Mylar bags for food storage are made with the highest quality BPA-free, food-grade materials. They are air-tight and light-blocking, so you have a lot less to worry about when it comes to proper food storage. Not only do Wallaby’s mylar bags protect your food from moisture and sunlight, but they also suck up oxygen as each bag includes an abundance of oxygen absorbers.
Visit our website to learn more about Mylar bags, and see how we can help you be a more efficient prepper!SHARE:
