Food spoilage is a common occurrence in life and brings us a lot of trouble. If there were a type of food that never spoiled, we could eat it with much greater peace of mind. Scientific research and practice have proven that honey, liquor, vinegar, sugar, and salt are foods that do not spoil.
Honey.
Fresh, mature honey is a transparent or translucent, gel-like viscous liquid. Sugar accounts for more than three-quarters of the total content of honey, and its low water content means that bacteria and yeast cannot survive in it. Additionally, honey contains 0.1% to 0.4% of antibacterial substances. Therefore, mature honey does not spoil easily even after being stored for a long time. However, if the honey is not mature or is a poor-quality product that has been adulterated with water, it will ferment, bubble, and turn sour after being stored for a period of time, making it inedible.
Liquor.
Liquor with an alcohol content of over 10%, commonly referred to as spirits of more than 10 degrees, has a disinfecting effect itself. Under sealed conditions, microorganisms are not easily able to invade and it is difficult for them to reproduce, so it never spoils. However, this does not mean that the longer the liquor is stored, the better. For ordinary aromatic baijiu, after 5 years, the flavor becomes lighter and the aroma weaker. Aged sauce-aroma baijiu is considered fine liquor, but whether aged strong-aroma liquor is fine liquor is still inconclusive.
Vinegar.
Vinegar has antibacterial and bactericidal properties and can be used for food preservation and preservation, such as pickling. Vinegar has a relatively long shelf life, but it is also affected by the production process and raw materials. Well-brewed aged vinegar, sealed in a jar and stored underground, becomes mellower and more fragrant with the passing years.
Solid sugars.
Solid sugars include common types such as white granulated sugar, soft white sugar, rock sugar, and monocrystal rock sugar. Solid sugars have little internal water and high osmotic pressure, which is unfavorable for microbial growth and makes them difficult to contaminate. Sugar is also often used to preserve foods, such as candied fruits and preserved fruits. However, sugar is hygroscopic and if stored improperly, its properties can change, leading to microbial contamination.
Salt.
The main component of salt is sodium chloride, which is very chemically stable. Like sugar, edible salt is often used to preserve food and is a natural preservative. However, the iodized salt we commonly eat, if not protected from light and high temperatures, will have reduced iodine content after being stored for too long, but the quality of the salt itself will not change.