What are IQF Foods? This is What You Need to Know

Frozen food is here to stay. 70% of American shoppers have bought more frozen food since March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic started. Many consumers also plan to continue buying frozen food products thanks to their convenience and longevity.

But IQF foods, or individual quick freezing foods, are nothing new. Clarence Birdseye discovered the food preservation method while ice fishing and founded the Birds Eye food company to make better quality frozen food products available to grocery shoppers.

There are many benefits to buying IQF foods. Read on to learn why you may want to add more to your freezer.

What Makes IQF Foods Special?

Not all frozen food can be called IQF food. IQF is a method of freezing food so that each piece is frozen individually, not together in one clump. This means when you buy IQF blueberries, you can pour the blueberries out of the bag and use as many as you like because they’re all loose and not stuck to each other.

IQF foods are flash-frozen at an extremely cold temperature, which keeps them separated and prevents them from turning mushy when thawed. The food travels on a conveyer belt into a machine that quickly blasts them with cold air around -45 degrees Fahrenheit. The foods remain loose even when packed together in a bag.

This flash freezing method is used to preserve all kinds of fruit such as berries, cherries, and peaches as well as vegetables including peas, broccoli, corn, and beans. You’ll also find IQF fish and poultry at your local supermarket.

The History of IQF Foods

As mentioned, Clarence Birdseye is credited with introducing IQF foods to American consumers. Birdeye was a biologist who traveled to Canada in the early 20th century and befriended the local Inuits, who taught him how to ice fish.

He noticed that when he pulled fish out of the water, it would freeze very quickly in the cold temperature. But what really impressed him was how well the fish tasted when it was later thawed and cooked. It had the same consistency as fresh fish, whereas traditional freezing gave it a mushy, inconsistent texture that wasn’t very tasty to eat.

Birdseye didn’t know it at the time but quickly freezing the fish prevented large ice crystals from forming which affect food fiber and make it either limp or dried out. IQF causes much smaller ice crystals to form which cannot penetrate the food and alter its texture.

Traditional freezing takes much longer, requiring the food to freeze slowly as it’s exposed to a warmer temperature compared to flash freezing. This can also cause large ice crystals to form. With the IQF method, it’s exposed to the cold for a much shorter period of time before being packaged.

Birdseye formed his own company that remarkably, flopped at first from lack of consumer interest. After moving his operations to Gloucester, Massachusetts he patented his double belt freezer invention and experienced more success. In 1929, Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company—which later became General Foods—purchased Birdeye’s company for $22 million and created the Birds Eye Frozen Food Company.

Now nearly a century old, Birds Eye continues to manufacture IQF vegetables, rice, and meals. Many other food manufacturers have adopted the IQF method.

The Benefits of IQF Foods

IQF foods offer many advantages over other types of preserved foods. These benefits help both consumers and those working in the foodservice industry. Here are several reasons to buy IQF foods:

No Preservatives

Quick freezing is one of the most natural methods of food preservation and eliminates the need to use chemicals such as sodium benzoate to keep food from spoiling. Many common food additives cause allergies and other health conditions.

Freezing food prevents spoilage by inhibiting bacteria and mold without using preservatives.

Better Tasting

IQF prevents large ice crystals from forming and tampering with the food product’s texture and taste. When thawed or cooked, IQF foods taste just like their fresh counterparts. Freezing the food quickly also preserves the flavor, so berries and other sweet foods taste just as sweet as they would if they were just picked.

Frozen food also tends to taste better than other types of processed food because it doesn’t contain any preservatives.

Less Waste

If you find you’re tossing produce out before you’ve had a chance to eat or finish it, you may want to give IQF foods a try. Frozen food eliminates waste as you can just take what you need and put the rest back in the freezer. And frozen foods tend to take up less real estate in your fridge as well.

IQF food is longer lasting than fresh food; most products will keep in the freezer for about three months before they start to show signs of freezer burn. And less food waste means less money getting thrown away.

More Nutrients

Frozen food tends to retain more vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients compared to other methods of preserving it. That’s because processed food causes it to lose some of its nutritional value. Even fresh food begins to lose nutrients the longer it stays in your refrigerator.

More Availability

Craving cherries during the winter? While you’ll have a tough time finding fresh cherries at your grocer in December, you may just find IQF ones in the freezer.

That’s another great thing about IQF foods—you have greater availability of unseasonal foods year-round.

IQF Foods

Now that you know how great IQF foods are for you and how they’ve revolutionized food production, maybe it’s time to stock up. Get yourself some frozen shrimp and peas and make a little pasta and a garlic lemon sauce for an easy dinner tonight!

Be sure to check out our Recipe Box for plenty of other meal ideas that use IQF foods.