Rick Stidham wrote:
> I've read in two different places never to give frozen (which I took to
> mean frozen and then thawed) vegetables or fruits to gerbils. Neither
> source mentions the reasoning behind this. Anyone know?
>
thawed frozen veg and fruits can very soon become bad if thereafter
stored too long again, because normally, the preventing cell-walls are
disruptured by ice-crystals (it depends also on the freezing temperature.
Shock frosting in *thin* layers at *very* low temperatures (-40�C=F or
less) is recommended. Only then most ice crystals remain too short and
can't disrupture the cells, as we can see with undamaged sperm-banks in
fluid Nitrogen). And of course, such vegetables, which are *raw* harmful
(for example some sorts of beans) wouldn't become harmless by freezing,
but only by cooking.
But in general and given in *small* quantities, that it can't become bad,
it shouldn't be a problem.
Ehrenfried
