Food ripens as a result of oxygen exposure. Fruits, vegetables, and meats will begin to spoil after a certain amount of time because they have been exposed to the air. Often mold and bacteria will develop, leaving the food undesirable because of the change in odor, color, and texture of it. Sometimes bacteria can develop without air, but mold does not develop without a healthy supply of oxygen.



When you vacuum seal your food, what you are actually doing is removing the air from the bag. Once the air is removed, mold, and some bacteria, are unable to live or grow. Over time, however, the food you store might spoil if it is not refrigerated or frozen. If you seal your food while it is very fresh, and store it appropriately, it will last longer than if you had used another storage method.

Other methods of storage allow oxygen to creep in through tiny openings. Loosely wrapping your food and putting it in the refrigerator can only save your food for so long. Even if you use an air tight container, the oxygen that is left inside of the container may be enough to allow mold and other bacteria to thrive and spoil your food. Look at it this way, mold eats oxygen to survive and grow. If you do not feed it the oxygen, it will die.

The only other way to preserve food for months at a time is canning. It is not as easy of a process as vacuum sealing, but it is another option. You can can your fruits and vegetables, even meats, and they will stay fresh even without refrigeration. If you have a lot of shelf space for cans, or you don't have space in your freezer, you may want to consider canning. Most people do have space in the fridge or freezer, and vacuum sealing woks fine for them.

Ultimately, vacuum sealing will help to preserve food much longer than with regular plastic wrap, foil, zip-lock bags, or air tight containers. You can save money because the food you buy will not go to waste. It is good to understand the science behind vacuum sealing, isn't it?