EXPERTS:

FOOD TASTES BETTER WHEN THAWED WITH COLD WATER:

"Susanne Ekstedt's ( a researcher at the Food and Bioscience unit of SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden in Gothenburg) recommendation is based on the institute’s own experiments with freezing and thawing different kinds of foods. Their conclusion: The best way to thaw frozen meat or fish is to put it in cold water. You have to wrap the food in plastic, of course, to keep the water out of the food, but water will thaw food quickly and effectively.

The reason for this is simple: Water conducts heat better than air. And the faster food is thawed, the better it tastes." - Read the rest of the article here.

AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, AS SLOW AS NECESSARY:

In everyday practice defrosting of frozen raw materials is rarely a process to which much attention is paid, however. As a rule it is only an auxiliary process through which the raw material must pass prior to further processing. Often defrosting is even seen to be a bottleneck which can be an obstacle during production if the process is not exactly fitted into the timing of the technological processes within a company.

It is not only for economic reasons that it is worthwhile to pay more attention to thawing: correct defrosting can also have a positive influence on product quality.- Read the rest of the article here.

FDA FOOD CODE: THAWING 3-501.13:

Frozen potentially hazardous food shall be completely submerged under running water:

(1) At a water temperature of 21 C (70 F) or below,

(2) With sufficient water velocity to agitate and float off loose particles in an overflow, and

(3) For a period of time that does not allow thawed portions of READY-TO-EAT FOOD to rise above 5 C (41 F), or

4) For a period of time that does not allow thawed portions of a raw animal FOOD requiring cooking as specified under ¶ 3-401.11(A) or (B) to be above 5 C (41 F), for more than 4 hours including: (a) The time the FOOD is exposed to the running water and the time needed for preparation for cooking, or (b) The time it takes under refrigeration to lower the FOOD temperature to 5 C (41 F);

Read more about LA County Inspection Here

THE STATE OF RESTAURANT SUSTAINABILITY:

A restaurant's sustainability effort can influence guests' restaurant choices.

Read More Here.

MORE ABOUT WATER:

"1 in 9 people world wide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water."-WHO/UNICEF

"Water scarcity is a global concern, and that means there's even a problem in our own backyard. While it may be difficult to put yourself in the shoes of an African child struggling to find fresh water, it's important to understand that water scarcity affects everyone, even here in the United States." Read more here.