Ambient Foods & Food Labels

Food Preparation & Nutrition: AQA GCSE, topic 4.2.2

Ambient Storage

The majority of foods we buy don't need to be chilled or frozen. Many are safe to store at room temperature - we call these ambient foods.

To make sure ambient foods stay fresh, you should seal them in a container so that air can't reach them.
As microorganisms need moisture for growth, you should keep ambient foods in a cool and dry environment.

Many ambient foods have long shelf lives and can be eaten months or years after purchase.
We can preserve ambient foods in different ways to increase the length of their shelf lives:
Canning - sealing food in cans and heating to destroy microorganisms.
Vacuum packing - packaging food and sucking the air out as certain microorganisms die without oxygen.
Freeze-drying - takes moisture out of food.
Chemicals - using vinegar to pickle substances, as microorganisms cannot grow and multiply rapidly in such acidic conditions.

All packaged food must display date marks indicating when food will likely go off.

Displayed on high risk foods and other foods with short shelf lives.
The date acts as a safety warning. You're at greater risk of developing food poisoning if you exceed the use by date.

Displayed on foods with longer shelf lives.
The date acts as a quality warning. Even if food is safe to eat after the date is passed, it might not taste as good.
Some foods are potentially dangerous after this date. If eggs contain salmonella bacteria, this bacteria can start to multiply to worrying levels after the date.