Answer:
- The term refrigerate once opened is found in preserved foods (canned or processed) and this basically means to cool the container after opening it along with its contents.
- The rationale behind this is that once the container gets opened for consumption, it is immediately exposed to the oxygen present in the atmosphere and the dust particles.
- Further, the contents are also exposed to the various bacteria and mold spores present in the environment. Due to such exposure, all protection offered by canning and processing the food is lost.
- It is important to know that when the contents are kept at room temperature, the mold and bacteria start growing immediately and multiplying in number and this leads to the degradation of the food product as well as toxicity.
Therefore, it is important to refrigerate the contents as cooler temperatures slows the growth of these microorganisms and inactivates them. Thus, increasing the shelf life of the food.
