foods are usually frozen below 0 degrees.give the reason?

Answer 1

Bacteria typically need several things in order to grow:

Heat
Water
Food

They have Food coming in the source of your, well, food.
Any temperature under 40 Fahrenheit (sorry, I could do the conversion, but I worked late last night and had to get up early to shovel my wife out so she could go to work) is considered cold enough for "refrigeration", but the colder the better. All that is left is the water issue. Most bacteria cannot use ice and require water in liquid form, so by freezing your food below the freezing point of water you have in essence removed their ability to reproduce.

Note: this does not kill the bacteria, they merely go into a dormant phase, which is why you usually don't want to eat raw meat, even if it has been frozen.

Answer 2

As we all know water freezes at 0 degrees Centigrade and 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Usually a freezer works below this temperature for a number of reasons. firstly when the composition of water is changed the freezing point is reduced this is like putting antifreeze into your car radiator and washers, many foodstuffs contain natural or synthetic chemicals which may change the freezing point of ice for instance adding a small proportion of alcohol to water can cause the freezing point to decrease. Secondly on a very basic level the colder the temperature the slower molecules move and thus the rate at which chemical reactions which govern biological processes occur is reduced. This slows the rate of decay for foods and also slows the growth of bacteria which can cause food poisoning.

Answer 3

Usually your local Supermarket will have industrial freezers that work at around -32 degress Celsius (249.1499 Kelvin - which is actually the SI Unit of Temperature)

Your home freezer will be around -18 degrees celsius (263.1499 Kelvin)

When the food is first frozen it is done so very rapidly - that is why ice-cream you buy from the supermarket doesn't have those big ice crystals on it, but after it's been in the home freezer for a few month - then it grows them.

So go get your frozen TV dinner out and enjoy !! ;o)

Answer 4

It is so bacteria do not spoil the food.The vast majority are not active below 0 celsius. (or 32 Farenheit).To make extra sure they are frozen to even lower temperatures.
By the way cuddles g...we still use Farenheit in the UK...especially for weather..80 degrees is a hot summer's day.
The other scale is celsius...centigrade is obselete even though both are identical.
Did you know that... - 40celsius = - 40 Farenheit?
The only point where both scales are equal.

Answer 5

Those of us in the U.S. who are studying anything remotely scientific also use the centigrade scale, so don't let the guy at the top ruin your opinion of us! : )
However, even if I wasn't a college student, as a domestic goddess I would be able to tell you that keeping the food frozen *below* freezing point keeps it better preserved, and prohibits food born illness if thawed and prepared properly.

Answer 6

Freezing food to around -18°C will generally PREVENT BACTERIAL GROWTH for some months. Bacterial activity in food is a chemical reaction. Freezing does not kill the bacteria but, the chemical action is very greatly slowed down.

The food wrapping should indicate how long it is safe to freeze it for.

- Usually labelled: - (Freeze immediately and use before date)

Answer 7

Becuase water freezes at 0, and foods have a generous portion of water in them.

And to correct the Joey K idiot - this is the UK answers, and we use Centigrade as our default scale, not Farenheit.

Answer 8

B'coz most foods contain water as their constituent and water itself freezes at 0-degree celsius.

Answer 9

bacteria don't thrive in those conditions where the temperature is below 0 degree celsius

Answer 10

they ar frosen at 0 degress in the metric system and 32 degress in the english system because that is the tempture at which things freeze at