The Photodegradation of Baked Goods Can Hurt Your Business

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Running a bakery outlet is one of the most difficult challenges in the field of entrepreneurship. Regardless of where the outlet is located, you can always expect plenty of competitors trying to overthrow you for a greater share of the market. This makes it a necessity for bakery shop owners to ensure that their business operations are perfectly streamlined. However, there are always obstacles which hinder your progress. One stumbling block to running a bakery outlet successfully is the photodegradation of baked goods.

Photodegradation is a serious problem

Photodegradation sounds like an overly complicated term that food safety regulators would use to fine bakery shop owners. In all fairness, there is nothing complicated or confusing about photodegradation. It is the simple, yet highly undesirable process by which light spoils your food. If you have never heard of photodegradation before, then the concept of light ruining your lovely bakery selection should be an absolute shocker. You must be asking yourself, “How could something that you use to accentuate the visual appeal of your baked goods end up being so harmful?” As strange as it may sound, photodegradation of baked goods is a serious problem and it affects hundreds and thousands of businesses every single year.

How photodegradation occurs

Sunlight, fluorescent lighting and incandescent lighting can all lead to photodegradation. As far as the bakery business is concerned, it is the food display case lighting which causes the harm. The light inside the bakery display cases is absorbed by the baked goods, which triggers a chemical reaction in the food. The chemical reaction takes place in specific components of the food. As a result of this, the baked goods can develop off flavors. The color of the food items can change as well. The light usually permeates the outer layer of the solid baked foods, leading to a distasteful discoloration on the surface.

Photodegradation can put you out of business

The slightest bit of changes in color and flavor in your baked goods can spell disaster for your business. Customers will not be willing to pay for baked goods that do not look, taste or smell fresh and delicious. Sales will drop and your business will be losing out to competition.

Ordinary lights cause photodegradation

If you find yourself in such a distressful situation, you need to realize that the bakery case lighting is not your enemy. Rather, it is the use of regular lighting in the bakery case which puts you in this predicament. Regular lighting is not ideal for the display of baked goods as they lead to severe photodegradation of baked goods. In other words, these lights are directly responsible for spoiling your precious food.

The need for specialty merchandising lamps

To solve this problem, you need to resort to the use of food safe lighting for bakeries. Much like food grade color, specialty merchandising lamps will not compromise the freshness, the quality or the appearance of your baked goods. If you want to enhance the shelf life of your baked goods and get your business back on track, then installing lamps like Promolux food safe lighting is your safest bet.