The preservation of food for storage over extended periods is a classic example of human ingenuity. In the modern world, freezing is perhaps the most popular way to preserve food.
When it comes to veggies, not only does freezing preserve the nutritional value of the food, but the flavor is often enhanced by the process (IE: peas and sweet corn). Frozen food gives consumers the ability to keep their chosen goodies for very long periods.
When we talk about the cutting edge of technology in frozen food applications, there is perhaps no other greater version of the process than IQF.
For those of you who do not know the definition of IQF or “individually quick frozen” here is the meaning to bring you up to speed.
IQF is a food freezing tactic that prevents big ice crystals from forming inside of vegetable cells. With IQF, it should be noted that every single piece of produce (literally every pea, corn kernel, etc) is individually frozen to perfection. With IQF, there are no food particles. The result is a final product that is not frozen solid into a brick of ice.
Now, there are many different ways to freeze vegetables. Some of these include but are not limited to plate freezing, blast cooling, tunnel freezing, fluid-bed freezing, cryogenics, and dehydro-freezing.
As for which method is right for you, well, that depends on the quality you want from your freezing method, depending on factors such as financial limitations and storage dynamics, IQF may or may not be a good choice for your products.
This article will take a look at the applications and uses for IQF and help you to decide if it is, in fact, the right form of food freezing for your food packaging needs.