Food preservation statistics show why timing, temperature, and tested methods matter. Global food loss across post-harvest, transport, storage, wholesale, and processing stages was estimated at 13.3% in 2023. At home, the practical numbers are much more specific: salads keep 3 to 4 days in a refrigerator at 40°F or below, while some frozen foods retain best quality for 12 months at 0°F.
Contents
- Global food loss and the preservation opportunity
- Refrigerated storage windows
- Freezer storage at 0°F
- Shelf-stable and home-canned foods
- Botulism and preserved-food safety
- Nutrients, quality, and preservation
- Frozen-food ranges by food group
Global food loss and the preservation opportunity
The FAO SDG Indicators Data Portal estimated global food loss at 13.3% in 2023 across the monitored stages from after harvest through farm, transport, storage, wholesale, and processing. The comparable 2015 estimate was 13.0%. These are estimates for a defined part of the food supply chain, not a measure of all food wasted by households, retailers, or restaurants.
Regional rates varied. Northern America and Europe recorded a 10.0% food-loss rate in 2023, compared with 9.4% in 2015. Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 23.0% in 2023 and 22.1% in 2015. Eastern and Southeastern Asia recorded 13.9% in 2023 and 13.8% in 2015. The figures describe the monitored post-harvest-to-wholesale stages, so comparisons should retain that scope.
Food type also mattered in 2023. Fruits and vegetables had a global loss rate of 25.4%, higher than meat and animal products at 14.0%. Roots, tubers, and oil-bearing crops were at 12.3%, while cereals and pulses were at 8.4%. The pattern is relevant to pantry planning: produce categories with shorter quality windows may benefit especially from timely cooling, freezing, drying, or other tested preservation methods.
Refrigerated storage windows
The FoodSafety.gov Cold Food Storage Chart gives current chart guidance accessed in 2026. The guidance is undated, and the following windows assume a refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below.
| Refrigerated food | Storage window | Guidance period |
|---|---|---|
| Egg, chicken, ham, tuna, and macaroni salads | 3–4 days | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
| Opened hot-dog packages | 1 week | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
| Unopened hot-dog packages | 2 weeks | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
| Hamburger, ground meat, and ground poultry | 1–2 days | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
| Fresh beef, veal, lamb, and pork steaks | 3–5 days | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
| Fresh shell eggs | 3–5 weeks | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
| Hard-cooked eggs | 1 week | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
| Opened shelf-stable canned foods | 3–4 days | Current chart accessed 2026; undated guidance |
These ranges make clear that “preserved” does not mean indefinitely safe or high quality. A prepared salad has a 3-to-4-day refrigerator window, while fresh shell eggs have a 3-to-5-week window. Ground meat and poultry have one of the shortest listed windows at 1 to 2 days. Opened canned foods also move into a refrigerated, short-term category: the chart gives 3 to 4 days at 40°F or below.
Freezer storage at 0°F
The USDA FSIS Freezing and Food Safety chart uses 0°F (-18°C) and reports best-quality periods. Best quality is a quality benchmark, not a claim that food automatically becomes unsafe when the listed period ends.
Bacon and sausage are rated for 1 to 2 months. Casseroles are rated for 2 to 3 months, as are gravy and meat or poultry. Soups and stews also have a 2-to-3-month best-quality period. Frozen dinners and entrees have a 3-to-4-month period, while uncooked ground meat has 3 to 4 months.
Uncooked meat roasts have a broader 4-to-12-month range. Uncooked wild game is rated at 8 to 12 months. Uncooked whole poultry is rated at 12 months, and egg whites or egg substitutes are also rated at 12 months. The spread from 1 to 2 months for bacon and sausage to 12 months for whole poultry or egg products shows why a single “freezer life” number is not useful for every food.
When organizing a freezer, label the food and the storage date, then match the item to the relevant category. The USDA chart’s periods are specifically for best quality at 0°F (-18°C), so temperature consistency and packaging remain important context for using the numbers.
Shelf-stable and home-canned foods
The USDA FSIS Shelf-Stable Food Safety guidance says unopened high-acid canned foods, including tomatoes, grapefruit, and pineapple, generally keep 12 to 18 months on the shelf. Unopened low-acid canned foods, including meat, poultry, fish, and most vegetables, generally keep 2 to 5 years when the can remains in good condition.
Those are different categories from home-canned foods. The same USDA guidance lists home-canned foods with a 12-month shelf storage period. The National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance recommends storing home-canned jars for best quality between 50°F and 70°F.
Seal problems create a shorter, more immediate timetable. A home-canned jar that failed to seal and was identified within 24 hours should be refrigerated and its contents consumed within 1 week. The same guidance says an unsealed jar may be frozen for up to 1 year after adjusting headspace to 1 inch. These directions apply to the specified unsealed-jar situation and should not be generalized to jars with unknown handling or condition.
For pantry rotation, the numbers support separating unopened commercial cans, home-canned jars, and opened products. High-acid commercial cans have a 12-to-18-month general range; low-acid commercial cans have a 2-to-5-year general range when the can remains in good condition; home-canned foods are listed at 12 months; and opened canned foods have a 3-to-4-day refrigerator window.
Botulism and preserved-food safety
Preservation safety depends on following tested processes, especially for low-acid foods and home canning. The CDC National Botulism Surveillance Summary, 2020 reported 9 laboratory-confirmed foodborne botulism cases in the United States in 2020. The cases came from 6 states. Six of the 9 cases involved toxin type A, 2 involved toxin type B, and 1 involved toxin type F.
The median age of confirmed patients was 62 years, with a range from 41 to 73 years. One death was reported among the 9 confirmed cases. These figures are a 2020 national surveillance summary; they should not be read as a current annual total or as a rate for every preserved-food household.
A later outbreak illustrates how serious a preservation failure can become. In the CDC report on the Fresno County home-canned cactus outbreak, 31 people attended one or both gatherings in June 2024. Eight attendees had symptoms compatible with botulism, and 5 of those 8 had botulinum neurotoxin type A detected in serum.
Hospital stays in that outbreak ranged from 2 to 42 days. Six patients were admitted to an intensive care unit, and 2 required invasive mechanical ventilation. All 8 patients survived. The outbreak involved home-canned nopales, making it a direct reminder that preservation methods must be matched to the food and followed as tested, rather than improvised from storage time alone.
Nutrients, quality, and preservation
Preservation can protect availability while changing nutrient levels or sensory quality. The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2015 revision summarizes cited preservation evidence and guidance from 2015. It says nearly 50% of some vitamins in vegetables may be lost within a few days after harvest unless produce is cooled or preserved.
The same guidance says that within 1 to 2 weeks, refrigerated produce can lose half or more of some vitamins. Canning’s heating process is associated with losses of about 33% to 50% of vitamins A and C, thiamin, and riboflavin. After canning, additional losses of sensitive vitamins are listed at 5% to 20% per year.
These are broad figures for specified vitamins and cited evidence, not a promise that every vegetable loses the same percentage. They also show why the measurement period and method matter: loss after harvest, refrigerated storage, heating during canning, and later shelf storage are distinct stages.
The 2015 USDA guidance also says home canning may save 50% of the cost of commercially canned food when the value of labor is excluded. That estimate is explicitly labor-excluded, so it should not be treated as a complete household-cost comparison.
Frozen-food ranges by food group
The National Center for Home Food Preservation frozen-food guidance provides approximate ranges from 2005 for best quality at or below 0°F. Because this source is older guidance, its measurement period should remain visible when using the figures.
| Food group | Approximate best-quality range at or below 0°F | Guidance period |
|---|---|---|
| Fruits and vegetables | 8–12 months | 2005 guidance |
| Poultry | 6–9 months | 2005 guidance |
| Fish | 3–6 months | 2005 guidance |
| Ground meat | 3–4 months | 2005 guidance |
| Cured or processed meat | 1–2 months | 2005 guidance |
The ranges differ from the USDA chart’s item-specific periods because the sources group foods differently and provide guidance from different periods. Fruits and vegetables are listed at 8 to 12 months, poultry at 6 to 9 months, fish at 3 to 6 months, ground meat at 3 to 4 months, and cured or processed meat at 1 to 2 months. They are approximate best-quality ranges, not universal safety cutoffs.
Taken together, the statistics support a practical preservation system: cool or preserve vulnerable produce promptly, keep refrigerators at 40°F or below, keep freezers at 0°F, label dates, distinguish commercial from home-canned foods, and use tested canning instructions. The relevant number is always tied to the food, method, temperature, source, and measurement period.