Professor Jiang Zhuoqin, Director and Doctoral Supervisor of the Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, and Yang Guanfeng, President of the Guangdong Provincial Culinary Culture Research Association, believe that the main reasons citizens prefer fresh meat over frozen meat are consumption habits and misconceptions. They believe frozen meat has four major benefits:
More Hygienic From a hygiene perspective, freshly slaughtered meat often contains various bacteria and may even harbor certain viruses, such as the yellow bile virus, which is hidden in the bones, blood, and muscles. In contrast, the bacteria in frozen meat are either eliminated or killed by freezing.
Fresher After slaughter, live pigs enter the rapid freezing process within 2 to 3 hours. After being thawed for over an hour at home, the meat is exposed to room temperature for only about four to five hours. In contrast, fresh meat is generally transported from the slaughterhouse after 4 a.m., displayed at the market stall, and reaches the consumer's table no earlier than 11 a.m., meaning it is exposed to room temperature and air for over six hours.
Better In terms of meat quality, fresh meat has a strong acidic taste and more impure juices. Frozen meat undergoes a "purging" process before entering the freezer, during which most of the moisture and bloody fluids are removed, making the meat more flavorful. However, a home refrigerator cannot preserve frozen meat for extended periods. This is because frozen meat leaves the storage facility at around -18°C, while the freezing capacity of a household refrigerator is limited, typically only reaching -4°C to -5°C. Therefore, frozen meat left in a home freezer for a long time will slowly deteriorate. Experts recommend that frozen meat bought home should be consumed within a week.
Nutritious Compared to fresh meat, frozen meat has little nutritional difference. However, frozen meat requires thawing before consumption, and improper thawing methods can lead to a loss of nutrients. It should be noted that repeatedly thawing and refreezing frozen meat can destroy its nutritional content, causing the most nutritious substances in the meat, such as cytoplasmic fluid, to be lost along with the water. As long as it is thawed correctly and consumed reasonably, the nutritional value of frozen meat is no lower than that of fresh meat.