5 foods you should NEVER put in the freezer

Do you store your fresh vegetables and meats in the freezer? Think again...a few items are not meant to be there.

Storing everything in the freezer does not increase its shelf life. Nutritionists and dietitians across the country stress on importance of eating fresh food over frozen and that sure has a reason. Read: Frozen foods- healthy or not? So do not start throwing all the fresh produce, fruits, meats in that small box and assume that time will stop for you to enjoy the same greens after three months. Here s a list of foods that are not meant to go in the freezer:

1. Leafy vegetables: You can freeze fresh produce like peas or strawberries so that you can use it all year round but not leafy greens. Spinach, fenugreek, coriander or lettuce wilt when defrosted. They become soft, soggy and flavourless after freezing and hence must not be frozen.

2. Eggs: If you do not eat a lot of egg and have bought a dozen in one go, you can store it in your refrigerator but not in the freezer. The simple logic is, the liquid in the eggs will expand when frozen, causing the eggs to crack and leaving your freezer dirty and smelly.

3. Defrosted foods: Frozen meats and vegetables are convenient, but only till it is thawed or defrosted once. If you have ever read the pack of frozen chicken, it clearly mentions that thaw whatever required and put the rest of it back in the freezer. Repeated defrosting and freezing of the same item gives bacteria a chance to grow in it, which obviously is not healthy.

4. Coffee: Do not ever freeze coffee or coffee beans, especially if it is an open packet. Coffee or the beans tend to absorb all sorts of smells from the freezer and the thawing and re-freezing might lead to moisture condensation, causing the coffee to lose its flavour.

5. Mayonnaise, curd and other oil based dressings: Such dairy products and oil based emulsions don t hold up and disintegrate when thawed. You can add these to your recipes but forget about eating them 'fresh'. Frozen yogurt and freezing yogurt to get that taste is not the same thing. It will leave you disappointed. Are you wondering which frozen food is healthy? Here are the 6 top foods in the list.

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