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Bulk Food Storage

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There is increasing popularity of bulk food storage for many reason. The average person is having increased opportunity to easily access bulk food, such as at large warehouse shopping facilities. There is also increasing awareness of the vulnerability of our of our food system especially in the event of a natural disaster, break down of the economy or in any event a personal or family need for food without the ability to obtain food currently for any reason.

Not every type of food is susceptible to BFS. For instance anything that is cooked, such as a bread or a cookie will not maintain its long term integrity in a storage situation. On the other hand all basic commodities such as flour, salt, grains, dried foods, pastas are good candidates for BFS.

If you desire to store bulk food there are a number of considerations that are not part of storing solely smaller quantities of food. For one thing there are special space considerations for bulk storage (BFS). Many people will want to contain BFS in two parallel ways: storage in bulk in the pantry or similar area and in a small container for use in the kitchen on a daily basis. Or sometimes one might break the food into smaller packets but still in a setting for BFS and use one packet at a time in the kitchen.

If you decide to transfer the full amount into smaller packages consider the following. Before putting food in the containers prepare them and label them to avoid confusion and delay in getting the packages quickly and appropriately stored. Wear disposable gloves to keep the food as sanitary as possible. Try to come up with procedures to minimize touch the food, such as pouring food from a larger container into a smaller container. Always clean up thoroughly especially if there will another round of transferring food. Always use recommended container the transferred size and use. For instance if the new package with food in them are going to be refrigeration if it requires lower temperatures, so that there is not deterioration of the food in transition.

Where ever you have BFS you should take into account that BFS because of its size, it will be heavy. Another consideration for the location of BFS is that if it is in high humidity, the moisture tends to compromise containers over time. Extreme temperatures create longevity problems for the food stuff itself. Another consideration is in a garage vehicle exhaust can seep in and create contamination over time.

Another important consideration of BFS is ensuring proper, visible and sustainable labeling. One wants to be able to walk into a room look at a number of containers of BFS, and be able to see without much effort what food is in which container and when the use expires for the food in each container. As a back up you should keep a list of all food stuffs, date of storage and expiration date for use.

The toughness and integrity of the seal on BFS containers is essential. There is a particular challenge if you withdraw food from time to time because the seal must be restored. That is one reason for this type of scenario a container customized for this type of periodic accessing of food is highly advisable. An example of this type of container would be to have a small door or lid that could be conveniently open and shut, with the larger lid being more of a permanent long term seal.