Came to think about this while eating a store bought chicken curry with rice meal. The packaging had a the expiration date on the 24th, if kept in the fridge. Meanwhile, had I stored leftovers of same food I’d have made myself, it would probably only last a few days in the fridge (especially rice, which is said to expire fast)
Hence I wonder, how do they get the food to last so long? I get it has to have something to do with better hygiene and airtight packaging, but that alone can’t make it last so much longer, right?
In: Biology
Salt and preservatives inhibit microbial growth and oxidation / other ways food degrades.
It also comes down to the way they’re prepared and packaged. They’re cooked thoroughly to kill as many germs as possible and then cooled down as quickly as possible, to minimize time spent in the “danger zone” (in which bacteria, the kind that cause food spoilage rapidly multiply) and thereby minimize the amount of bacteria present when it gets sealed up. And then they’re usually sealed immediately. That sealing is probably the biggest part after sterilization: it prevents any oxygen or moisture and other microbes from getting in. It’s why canned food can last so long, but as soon as you break the seal the clock is ticking on when it’ll go bad.
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