3 Ways to Avoid Photodegradation of Baked Goods

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The photodegradation of food is a huge problem that largely affects people working in the retail food industry. One of the essential tools required in making your retail food business marketable is a set of food display cases. These display cases have become synonymous with food display; although there was a time when the presentation of food, in a bakery outlet for example, did not require the use of such elaborate cases.

There are numerous advantages to having a food display case in your bakery, which is why almost everyone has one in their outlet. However, the one big disadvantage that you should be concerned about is that inferior display case lighting leads to a number of problems in terms of food safety and shelf life. This is where the widespread issue of photodegradation of food creeps into the picture. When food contained within display cases is exposed to ordinary lights that make up the food display case lighting, photodegradation can take place within the constituents of the food. As a result of this, your food turns bad prematurely and the safety of the consumers purchasing the food is potentially compromised.

There are measures that you can take to prevent the photodegradation of the products in your bakery. Here are three tips to help you out:

1) Reduce light exposure of sensitive foods

Certain foods are more sensitive to light, and thereby more prone to photodegradation, than others. This makes it a necessity for you to identify the light sensitive foods that you are selling to the consumers and try to limit their exposure to food display lighting. You can do this by either changing the position of the food items inside the display case or by simply taking the food out of the case.

2) Remove the bright lights

Have you gone overboard with the commercial lighting in your bakery? Are there are too many bright LEDs and fluorescents in your bakery that are quite unnecessary? Then it is high time that you start taking the bright lights out and replacing them with lights of lower intensity. Remember, the more intense the light is, the more severe will be the effects of photodegradation on the food. Do not compromise the safety and shelf life of your food in a bid to attract a few extra customers who may or may not purchase your goods.

3) Food safe lighting

Food safe lighting is a set of specialized merchandising lamps that have very low photochemical activity. This means that such lighting will hardly have any adverse effects on the quality or the longevity of your food. Promolux lamps are an example of food safe lighting, which help retain the freshness of your perishable goods and minimize the risk of photodegradation.