Why do they give this incorrect information?
By Fleur
@Fleura (35043)
United Kingdom
January 11, 2023 3:59am CST
In an effort to save money and use less energy, I sometimes cook using the microwave (which is allegedly very energy-efficient) and of course I buy any reduced bargains of foods I like that I can freeze for later use.
But when I check the packaging I often find that foods are labelled with instructions such as ‘not suitable for microwave cooking’ or ‘not suitable for freezing’.
In many cases I know this is simply not true. For example pasta and rice are generally labelled as unsuitable for microwave cooking, when in fact both are very easy to cook in a microwave.
Last month on one trip to the supermarket I found lots of tubs of houmous reduced to half price. I like houmous, but I don’t necessarily want to eat it every single day (not even now they make several different flavoured versions). So I wondered whether I could freeze some. But the packets said ‘unsuitable for freezing’. I couldn’t think why that would be. I mean I know some things just can’t be successfully frozen (ever accidentally frozen a cucumber?) or shouldn’t be for safety-related reasons, such as meat that has previously been frozen, but houmous is basically made from pureed chick-peas, sesame seeds, oil and lemon juice, and what’s going to happen to those when frozen and defrosted?
I decided that for £1 it would be worth experimenting to find out the answer, so I bought a couple of extra tubs and popped them in the freezer.
Yesterday, ten days later, I took one out and guess what? It was exactly the same as usual. So next time I see any half-price tubs I will be able to stock up.
Why do they give this incorrect information?
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.
14 people like this
13 responses
@DaddyEvil (174508)
• United States
11 Jan 23
They give incorrect information about freezing because they don't want people to stock up at a cheap price. It's the same reason they put "use by" dates on cans of food. Use by dates don't mean anything. They just put those on canned goods and pasta because dumb people will throw away perfectly good food and buy more to replace the good food they threw away.
2 people like this
@Fleura (35043)
• United Kingdom
11 Jan 23
You could be right. I know I was flabbergasted when a previous house-mate cleared her fridge and threw away jars of preserves such as mustard, which will keep for years and doesn't even need to be in the fridge anyway! (and yes I did actually rescue them and eat them myself!)
3 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (51823)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
11 Jan 23
@DaddyEvil That's what I say.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174508)
• United States
11 Jan 23
@Fleura Throwing out perfectly good food is one of the failings of the American public... At least Pretty and I know better. I try to educate people all the time.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (502528)
• Italy
11 Jan 23
Those are not "incorrect information" those are information given to people who would not like to feel a different taste. I know that unfrozen hummus is far to be as good as freshly made and pasta in the microwave is a big no for us, not even in the oven, only sauteed quickly in a pan if I have pasta leftovers.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169479)
• United States
11 Jan 23
I laughed about your frozen cucumber. All I can think of about the housmous is that the consistency might change and you would need to stir it, and someone would complain rather than pick up a spoon.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51823)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
11 Jan 23
Why? So you'll buy more. As for accidently freezing a cucumber, that only happened when I put one in the fridge. Now, I don't refrigerate them, nor tomatoes, oranges, other fruit... They can survive at room temperature.
1 person likes this
@ifa225 (14468)
• Indonesia
11 Jan 23
I like to keep rice in frozen too,in the next day or next week, I can make a fried rice.
I don't think they give incorrect information, perhaps the nutrition has reduce or it could harm you like unseen fungus or mood which has grown inside the food
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (135791)
• Marion, Ohio
11 Jan 23
It's to keep you dependent on buying regular. Same with canning. I can meat and potatoes both. But now they say it's not safe to do so with home equipment.
1 person likes this
@porwest (112876)
• United States
11 Jan 23
In many ways I think a lot of it is a marketing ploy of sorts. Even when it comes to expiration dates, some people really believe that they are the absolute date to monitor for "freshness." But there are many things which are still good way past their "expiration." Granted, it depends on the item. But I have used eggs, even, weeks past the expiration date, and there is nothing wrong with them.
Marketers want you to prefer to throw things away and they want stores to clear their shelves. So, to do this, they will do all sorts of things to make consumers and sellers do things that make them more money in the end.
1 person likes this
@lazydaizee (6732)
• United Kingdom
11 Jan 23
I like houmous too but mine never gets as far as the freezer because I always eat it straight away. I have noticed other products where the label says it is not suitable for freezing and I cannot see why.
1 person likes this
