I think by now you can see that the meal prep industry is booming with brands to chose from. One of the largest dividing factors when choosing a meal prep service seems to be “Fresh vs Frozen” I am here today to address the different between the two options, or maybe even open your eyes and challenge you to think differently about the topic that SEEMS to be debatable. What is YOUR definition of fresh. Let’s dive in!

WHAT IS FRESH? - I guess that depends on your definition of fresh.

I would personally say that a FRESH meal is food that is prepared that day, cooked and served almost immediately. Right? Any reputable restaurant that you frequent is serving you “fresh food” in the dining room.

Maybe your definition of “fresh” is any meal that has been cooked and never frozen. Okay, I can see your point but I would definitely have to argue that that particular definition of “fresh” is actually considered Left-overs. Especially if the “fresh food” has sat for 3, 4, 5 days in the fridge and then you are microwaving it.

WHAT IS FROZEN? - Frozen meal prep is prepared, cooked and then immediately frozen. The meals remain frozen until you are ready to enjoy them. Pretty cut and dry. Freezing is used widely in the food industry to preserve freshness without the use of preservatives.????????

Now let’s dive a little deeper and refer to the experts for a little more insight on food safety. The USDA recommends that fresh poultry, beef, seafood and veggies be kept NO LONGER than 3-4 days in your fridge. That includes the day the food was cooked as DAY 1. Tick tock. Now you could argue that the USDA is strict and that is “just a suggestion” but is it really safe to eat meats that have been deteriorating for 3, 4 or 5 days in your fridge and even if you say yes, can you still REALLY call it fresh??

I think what may bother me the most is when fresh services have a disclaimer that the meals are good for up to 5 days (some say even a week????) in your fridge. On top of that they also say that you can freeze the meals if you are keeping them longer than their recommended “week”. ????

Oh okay, I get it. So it’s perfectly acceptable to freeze the meals, BUT ONLY AFTER they have sat in the fridge for 5-7 days being “fresh” and when they are on the verge of spoiling, THEN and ONLY THEN is it okay to freeze. ???? I understand, nobody wants to waste their hard earned money. SO I don’t blame you for taking the last resort option of freezing them. But hear me out; when you are ready to eat them they are not only frozen (which you may perceive as a negative) they are also 5- 7 days old upon thawing. Gross????

So, do I have your attention now my “frozen food skeptics??’’ Maybe, JUST MAYBE frozen meal prep isn’t a negative at all. Maybe it is actually the smartest way to enjoy your meal prep as fresh as possible from home!

For these reasons above, 95 Nutrition has done its research as a company. We have never wavered in our practices of food safety and have ALWAYS been dedicated to serving you a product you can trust for freshness and quality. We always take the extra step of immediately freezing our meals for our customers so that they arrive to their home ready to enjoy as fresh as the moment they were prepared.

Over the past 4 years we have watched as meal prep companies have changed their “fresh never frozen” practices to “fresh sometimes frozen” (fresh in store yet freezing their national shipments for additional food safety) all the way to completely changing over to frozen. Moving forward, as this industry built on the foundation of convenience grows, we expect to see more services confidently switch to a frozen take home product, and we couldn’t agree with their decision more! Our customers come first that’s why we are the #1 rated meal prep service.

If reading this hasn’t changed your mind about meal prep then I hope I at least have gotten you to think a little deeper about food safety and if FRESH is really superior to FROZEN when it comes to prepared meals and food safety.

I hope this blog helps inspire some great conversations! Please feel free to chime in by commenting below!????