Jun
22

Should Royal Jelly Be Refrigerated?

First time consumers of royal jelly products often have the question if it is really necessary to put it inside their refrigerator at all times. If we are talking about the raw or fresh form then it is definitely required that it must be refrigerated. Otherwise, it will go bad and surely, you won’t going to like the taste.

You have to know that the only possible way to maintain the “freshness” of a raw royal jelly is by storing it at a very low temperature. This can only be done through keeping it inside a freezer. Through this process, it ensures that the natural bee substance will be able to maintain its maximum freshness which could last for long term.

Here are the following commonly asked questions about this topic:

What if you have a royal jelly and let’s say, you took it out from the freezer then for some unknown reason, you forgot to put it back for like 5 to 10 days. Will it still be edible or can it still be consumed safely?

It depends on the temperature of the room where you misplaced it. If it maintains a cold temperature then there are still good chances. Just give a small amount of taste which should give you the answer that you need. But if the room isn’t cold, then it is likely to be bad.

Assuming that you bought yourself a royal jelly from a vendor and you already know what to do with it which is by placing it inside your fridge. Six months later and you still haven’t consumed it all but you noticed a slight change to its odor. Most individuals describe it to have a smell like a “cheesy sour milk”. Does the change of its odor signify that it is already spoiled? Is putting it inside the fridge really the best to store it?

A change of smell likely suggest that the royal jelly is already spoiled. When it comes to storage, you should always consider the “duration period” about how long you can consume the quantity that you bought.

If you intend of keeping it inside your fridge particularly at its freezer compartment, it is suggested that you should only buy an amount that you can consume for one month period. But if you bought a large amount of supply that could last for several months, then you need to store it in a freezer machine.

There is actually a difference between a fridge and a freezer which is their freezing temperature. A fridge is often designed to induce a temperature between 0 to 5 degrees C. But for the freezer, it can deliver up to minus 18 degrees.

Some fresh royal jelly products comes with a caution, “Do not keep in refrigerator”. This gives a lot of confusion to the majority of consumers that even on this post mentioned above that royal jelly must be kept in a cold temperature at all times.

The main reason why is that, the product is not really pure royal jelly. It has a mixture of honey which helps with the preservation.

One major concern by most consumers who ordered their fresh royal jelly from an online source is the delivery period. If you received the product with some ice packs then rest assured that it is in good shape. However, if it got thawed where the ice packs already got completely melted into water then it is something that you need to worry about. So the question is, can it still be eaten?

What you need to do is to check the delivery period from the receipt. If it only took 1 to 2 days of transit then it will still be considered just fine. You may want to smell or taste a little of it if it’s “rancid”. If not then it is still in good condition.

Some individuals would like to send fresh royal jelly to their family or friends from long distant places specifically, outside the country. Let’s say that you are from New Zealand or Australia and you want to send this fresh natural bee product in the United States, would it really be possible?

Yes, it is possible. What you need to do is to use a “thermal container or cooler” which can tightly seal the precious package inside it. Along with it, you should use re-usable ice packs which tends to stay frozen at a much longer duration of time compared to the regular ice. All these should be placed inside a “Styrofoam container” used for shipping purposes.

How long can a fresh royal jelly stay fresh when refrigerated as compared to putting it inside the freezer? Some are saying that they had experiences that the substance had a change on the taste and smell after keeping it inside their fridge for several months.

As already explained above, you should only buy an amount that you can consume for one whole month if you intend to keep it inside your fridge. The freezing temperature of a fridge isn’t really good enough to preserve the freshness of the bee substance. But if stored in a deep freezer, it will never expire.

What most consumers do when they have a large stock of fresh royal jelly, they will separate a quantity for the whole month of consumption which they place it in their fridge. The rest is stored in the freezer. Once they finished the one in the fridge, they will just refill it again with their supply from their freezer.

Another common concerns coming from most inexperienced consumers is that, they placed their fresh royal jelly in their refrigerator not knowing that it has to be inside the freezer. Some are saying that it’s already been there for several months. So the question is, “Is it still fine or just buy a new one?”

If you just recently bought it in the past few days or weeks and stored it in your fridge then it is definitely just fine. But if it’s there for several months now then, it requires tasting it. Just taste a small amount. You will immediately know that it has already gone bad if the taste is rancid. If there are already molds or it is tainted with obvious signs of spoilage then there is no need to perform a sample taste.

What if you bought a fresh royal jelly product in a tightly sealed container with an expiry date of 2015, will it still be edible today (2018) provided that you stored it in the freezer the entire time?

The answer is, “yes”. You can ignore the expiration date since royal jelly really do not expire as long as it remain frozen.

Another issue concerning with the shipment is that, the product may get lost in transit that most consumers complained that the royal jelly they ordered took 2 weeks to arrive. Some even claim 3 weeks resulting to the product being thawed. The question is, “Is a thawed royal jelly still good for consumption?”

According to some experts, the quality of the natural bee substance depends on its exposure to the temperature. Most suppliers actually ship their products frozen with ice. This would keep the item well preserved for two days while only one day if it will be traveled on a hot environment. Assuming that it got thawed for two days, the next four days is the quality limitation for a royal jelly. Less than four days if it sustained hot temperature.

Although, it might still be edible as long as it does not show any sign of spoilage. You may also want to give just a small amount of taste to thoroughly confirm it.