5 temperature tips to avoid food waste

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5 conseils de température pour éviter le gaspillage alimentaire

With one third of the food produced for human consumption being wasted each year and food production having to increase by 70% before 2050 to feed the population estimated at nine billion people, we never run out of reasons to reduce food waste.

The United Nations recently celebrated the first-ever observance of the International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day. During this time, in France, food losses and waste represent 10 million tons of products per year, be one commercial value estimated at 16 billion euros.

In the short term, businesses and consumers will need to be aware of preserve the meat and other foods until supplies return to normal, while long-term plans are still needed to resolve the growing problem of food waste and its environmental impacts.

Temperature is essential to preserve food quality and safety, thereby reducing waste. We gathered five of our best temperature tips for individuals, at any stage of the supply chain, to be used to avoid wasting valuable food resources.

 

STORE AT SAFE TEMPERATURES

Essential for businesses and consumers at all times, maintaining food storage temperatures protect against harmful bacteria, thus maximizing their shelf life.

The average refrigerator temperature in France is set at least 2°C too hot, so it is important to use a refrigerator thermometer to make sure she is equal to or less than the recommended 5°C.

This refrigerator thermometer has a internal sensor to reflect the indoor air temperature refrigerator, as well as a external probe to check the internal food temperature. Son audible alarm means that users will be alerted if the temperature falls out of range, allowing rapid corrective action to be taken to avoid deterioration.

COOK BY TEMPERATURE, NOT TIME

For the restaurant chefs and the home cooks, to make sure that meat dishes are cooked safely and to everyone's taste will help to avoid unwanted waste.

A one-second check with the Thermapen One will determine if the meat is perfectly cooked, while the oven thermometer DOT digital will monitor the temperature during cooking and will ring when it has reached the temperature.

COOL AND HEAT SAFELY

In addition to keeping food at safe temperatures, it is essential for safety and longevity to take the appropriate measures for chill and warm up leftovers or batch cooking.

The hot food have to be cool as quickly as possible, ideally within two hours, before being refrigerated. Food should be at a temperature below 20°C before being placed in the refrigerator or freezer, otherwise this will raise the temperature in the refrigerator and will expose your food to a risk of deterioration.

Many food production and catering companies will use rapid coolers to quickly cool their food, but for small businesses or consumers, food can be divided into smaller containers and placed in ice baths shallow to speed up the process. During the food reheating, it is essential to bring them to a temperature of 75°C to assure destruction of bacteria.

INCREASE SECURITY WITH DATA LOGGERS

For commercial food companies, there is no better way to protect products than by using data loggers. Of the accurate and reliable temperatures taken at regular intervals allow careful temperature monitoring throughout the cold chain and the cooking and cooling process.

WiFi data loggers even allow individuals to remotely view live data and to receive email alerts for out-of-range temperatures. Not only the transition to the use of data loggers prevents deterioration, but we calculated that it could save more than €600 per year on the workforce.

TRY IT HOT COMPOSTING

Inevitably, some food will go to waste, but how you dispose of it is still important when it comes to being more eco-friendly.

When food is sent to landfill, the air cannot reach the waste, which produces methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Composting is an excellent option for get rid of waste and with hot composting you can turn your waste into soil in only four weeks.

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