Meat and other foods need to be cooked to a safe temperature. Thorough cooking will destroy bacteria. Freshness and quality at the time of freezing affect the condition of frozen foods. Inferior foods still will be inferior when they emerge from the freezer. Peak quality foods still will be peak quality, when they are used.
Produce is best if frozen shortly after harvest.
It is safe to freeze meat or poultry in its supermarket wrapping, but this type of wrap is permeable to air, which causes freezer burn. Use these materials or airtight freezer containers to re-package family packs into smaller amounts or to freeze foods from opened packages. It is not necessary to rinse meat or poultry before freezing. Proper packaging helps maintain quality and prevent freezer burn. Freezer burn does not make food unsafe, but it causes drying in spots.