Most people choose expensive fresh pork because they believe frozen meat is less nutritious and tastes worse. Is frozen meat really like that?
Professor Jiang Zhuoqin, Director of the Department of Nutrition at the School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, and Doctoral Supervisor, and Yang Guanfeng, President of the Guangdong Provincial Culinary Culture Research Association, believe that the main reason citizens prefer fresh meat over frozen meat is consumption habits and misconceptions. They believe there are four major benefits to eating frozen meat:
More hygienic From a hygiene perspective, freshly slaughtered meat often contains various bacteria and even certain viruses, such as the yellow jaundice virus, which hides in bones, blood, and muscles. In contrast, the bacteria in frozen meat have been expelled or killed.
Fresher After a live pig is slaughtered, it enters 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 6 hours.
Tastier In terms of meat quality, fresh meat has a strong sour taste and more impurities. Before being frozen, the meat undergoes a "purification" process, where most of the moisture and impure blood in the meat is removed, making the flavor more delicious. However, a home refrigerator cannot keep frozen meat fresh for a long time. Because the temperature of frozen meat from the warehouse is around -18°C, and the cooling capacity of a household refrigerator is limited, usually only -4°C to -5°C, frozen meat left in the freezer for a long time will slowly spoil. Therefore, experts recommend that frozen meat bought at home should be eaten within a week.
Nutritious Compared to fresh meat, frozen meat has little nutritional difference. The only thing is that frozen meat needs to be thawed before consumption, and improper thawing can lead to a loss of nutrients. It should be noted that repeatedly thawing and refreezing frozen meat can destroy its nutritional value, 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.