The Negative Effects of Ordinary Display Lighting on Fresh Food
Ordinary lighting can cause a rapid deterioration in the quality and safety of fresh food. The heat and light radiation that is emitted causes foods to undergo unhealthy changes which affects its appearance, taste, and food safety. While the display case lighting might illuminate the case with its brightness, it is sacrificing the shelf-life and edible nature of the food on display.
The radiation given off from non-food specific lighting in supermarket display cases impacts a variety of perishable products like meat, seafood, deli meats & cheeses, produce, and bakery items. Improper lighting adversely affects the color, rate of spoilage, flavor, and smell.
Regular supermarket display case lighting stunts a meat's blooming period, changing the meat's natural color and increasing bacteria growth. With organic food gaining popularity and appealing to a larger market, the organic cuts of meat in a store's meat display cases are even more sensitive to light and heat.
Research has shown that consumers base a meat's tenderness, flavor, moistness, and food safety all on the meat's color and perceived appearance. This is especially true for a supermarket's deli department. Sausages, cheeses, and deli meats are a bit of an impulse buy, and that's why it's important that a customer's first glance be one that appeals to them instead of making them question what they are looking at.
Other departments also require proper, food-safe lighting for greater merchandising appeal and added shelf life. The lighting used in seafood display cases is extremely important as seafood and fish fillets spoil at a faster rate and have a higher risk of bacteria and pathogens than most other foods.
Unfiltered levels of radiation and heat can raise the temperature of seafood to rise to unsafe levels. Anything above 29 degrees Fahrenheit is a hot bed for bacteria growth. Radiation and heat will also draw moisture out of the seafood, affecting final sale weight and profit margins.
Purchasing the right specialty lighting for food display cases is a valuable and cost-effective purchase. Investing in the right case lighting for a store's display equipment will save more food, generate more sales, and will boost overall profit margins.
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2 年Poor lighting affects the quality of fresh produce. The right lighting recipe helps keep food fresh longer, which means a longer shelf life and less waste. Our company have been focused on fesh market lighting from 2013 . Provide 9 fresh food LED recipes for Vegetables , Fruits , Bread&Pastries, Bulk food , meat, beef Bacon and fresh fish etc .
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5 年Thankyou Very interesting posting ??
Grafik- und Kommunikationsdesign
5 年Thank you Mark for this very interesting posting. Lighting indeed takes an highly important role in how we see, feel and especially receive products in our everyday lifes - most Importantly in the mentioned food sector. Presenting AND preserving fresh food, in particular meat, is kind of a royal discipline and I perceive this as a big challenge for the lighting industry that is mentioned far too seldom. Also, there are already very good developments regarding this particular topic and I am constantly overwhelmed by how far the lighting industry is already researching and reacting to the constantly rising expectations and needs.