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Which foods and supplements should be kept in the refrigerator?

Let’s get rid of any misconceptions with a list of foods and dietary supplements that either do or don’t need to be refrigerated.
Food in the fridge
Do eggs, probiotics, or aloe vera gel need to be kept in the fridge? Read on for the answers.
Rédaction Supersmart.
2022-08-24Comments (0)

Which foods should be kept in the fridge and which in the cupboard?

Foods to keep refrigerated

Perhaps it’s obvious but certain foods definitely need to be kept in the fridge (at a temperature normally between 0° and 6°C), and only for a maximum period which depends on the type of food and whether it’s raw or cooked:

In addition, foods which aren’t preserved in anything should be kept in the fridge after opening: pasteurised long-life milk, canned food once opened, fruit juices, soups, prepared vegetables, etc.

With regard to eggs, which are admittedly not kept in the chiller cabinet in supermarkets, according to the scientific opinion issued by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) in July 2014, “keeping eggs in the fridge is the only way to reduce the increased risk of infection due to extended storage. However, if the sell-by and best-before dates are extended for more than three weeks, the risk increases even if the eggs are refrigerated in shops”. (1)

As for butter and cheese, it comes down to personal taste, preference and habit, as well as external temperature: for optimal preservation, especially in summer, it’s best to keep them refrigerated. In winter, butter and cheese can be kept at room temperature in a suitable container (butter dish, cheese preserver).

Foods that shouldn’t go in the fridge

Conversely, certain foods will lose their flavour, texture or nutritional qualities if kept in the fridge:

And some foods and condiments which are commonly kept in the fridge can definitely be stored in the cupboard:

Dietary supplements: which ones should be refrigerated?

Most dietary supplements are dry products!

Generally speaking, supplements do not need to be kept in the fridge. They are produced from dry extracts and/or oils, which means they have no special storage requirements.

The only recommendation is to keep them in a cool, dry place, away from light to prevent any deterioration in quality.

The nature of some supplements, however, (live organisms in particular), means they keep better and longer when refrigerated.

For probiotics, always opt for the fridge

Like the baker’s yeast you buy in sachets, probiotics are live microorganisms that have been ‘deactivated’ by a process of dehydration. But in this form, probiotics and yeasts can be subject to significant oxidative stress (2).

To reduce this risk, probiotics may be packaged in hermetic blister packs to protect them from oxygen. Compounds such as sorbitol and inulin may also be added to the probiotic formulation for enhanced preservation (3).

Finally, they should ideally be stored in refrigerated conditions prior to dispatch (as SuperSmart does for those probiotics that need it) as well as once they reach you.

In terms of our product range, refrigeration is particularly recommended for the following probiotics:

Storing aloe vera gel

Obtained from the pulp of the succulent of the same name,aloe vera gel is rich in healthy fatty acids, sterols, organic acids, phenols, etc, and thus offers numerous benefits for health, including the skin (4).

Home-made aloe vera gel is highly susceptible to oxidation and can only be kept for around 10 days in the fridge, or a little longer if you add vitamins E, C or a few drops of essential oil of grapefruit seed.

The aloe vera gel offered by SuperSmart (Organic Aloe Vera), contains citric acid, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate for maximum storage duration and can therefore be kept in the fridge for a month after opening.

Is it best to keep DIM supplements cold?

A molecule produced when the body digests cruciferous vegetables, Di-indolyl methane (DIM) is a natural metabolite also subject to oxidative stress and should thus be stored at a temperature of between 2° and 8°C (5).

So make sure you refrigerate any supplements that contain DIM, such as Natural Anti Aromatase Support, an enhanced formulation for combatting excess oestrogen production, containing a synergistic combination of DIM, chrysin, extracts of agaricus, naringin, genistein, etc.

Note: it’s completely normal for DIM to turn pink over time – this does not affect its benefits.

Enzymes and refrigeration: a case-by-case approach

Enzymes are proteins which serve as catalysts of certain chemical reactions in the body.

Whether acting as digestive enzymes (which play a role in the digestion of macronutrients and micronutrients) or as metabolic enzymes (which regulate metabolic pathways), the kinetics of thermal denaturation of many enzymes can be significant (from a few hours’ to a few days’ half-life) – even at moderate temperatures such as 20°C.

It’s therefore advisable to keep enzymatic preparations in the fridge (at a temperature of around 3° or 4°C) which will usually ensure stability for several months.

This is the case, for example, with the following supplements:

References

  1. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/press/news/140731
  2. RASCÓN, M. P., HUERTA-VERA, K., PASCUAL-PINEDA, L. A., et al.Osmotic dehydration assisted impregnation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus in banana and effect of water activity on the storage stability of probiotic in the freeze-dried product. Lwt, 2018, vol. 92, p. 490-496.
  3. MIREMADI, Fatemeh et SHAH, Nagendra P. Applications of inulin and probiotics in health and nutrition.
  4. VOGLER, B. K. et ERNST, E. Aloe vera: a systematic review of its clinical effectiveness. British journal of general practice, 1999, vol. 49, no 447, p. 823-828.
  5. KAMAL, A. et QURESHI, A. Ali. Syntheses of some substituted di-indolylmethanes in aqueous medium at room temperature. Tetrahedron, 1963, vol. 19, no 4, p. 513-520.
  6. CLAIBORNE, A. L. Catalase activity. In : CRC handbook of methods for oxygen radical research. CRC press, 2018. p. 283-284.
  7. AKESON, Walter R. et STAHMANN, Mark A. A pepsin pancreatin digest index of protein quality evaluation. The Journal of nutrition, 1964, vol. 83, no 3, p. 257-261.
  8. WU, Hong, TIAN, Chunyong, SONG, Xiaokai, et al.Methods for the regeneration of nicotinamide coenzymes. Green Chemistry, 2013, vol. 15, no 7, p. 1773-1789.
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