What are fourth range salads?

We all know that a salad is one of the most grateful foods in the world, because they are easy to digest, nutritious and on top of that they allow us to experiment by adding dozens of ingredients in small quantities that provide that extra that makes salads famous, but … what Are the salads of the fourth range?

Salads are nutritious, easy to prepare and the perfect accompaniment to any meat or fried dish, since it helps the digestion of heavy foods by providing that extra hydration so that the food is digested correctly.

Salads have many benefits, but not all are the same. In this type of food it happens the same as in others, for example, it is not the same to buy rice and prepare it ourselves than to buy it frozen or in jars to heat in the microwave. Hundreds of examples can be used, such as tomato sauce, tortilla, bread, etc.

Based on this, we delve into the product ranges, a fascinating world that few people know and today we want to start here to explain what fourth-range salads are.

Types of product ranges

As we have already anticipated, it is not the same to buy a finished product and ready to eat, or to heat and eat, than to buy each ingredient separately. And we have seen some examples, and among all of them today we focus on salads, but first we are going to know the food ranges:

• First range: refers to fresh foods, that is, foods that have not undergone any type of industrial processing, except for some cleaning or minimal packaging.
• Second range: This is where canned foods come in, that is, those foods that can remain for several months (or years) without spoiling in cans, glass jars and the like. This is thanks to the heat treatment of autoclave sterilization that is applied to the food and then it is hermetically packed.
• Third range: refers to frozen foods. Their long useful life and ease of use make them the star products in many homes.
• Fourth range: this is where foods packaged under vacuum or in modified atmospheres come in. This technique is often combined with the application of cold to increase the shelf life of the product.
• Fifth range: this range includes the most processed foods, that is, those that have been previously cooked and packaged under vacuum or in modified atmospheres. This group usually includes convenience foods that are ready to open and serve.

What are fourth range salads?

Based on the information in the previous section, we see that salads packed in protected atmospheres would enter the fourth range.

In short, this type of salads, if not indicated otherwise on the packaging, is already washed, sanitized and with all, or almost all, the ingredients. It is a ready-to-eat dish that does not usually need more additions, except for some basic dressing, sauce or extra ingredient that we want to put on it.

This type of salads should be kept in the fridge and if the package is open we must consume it within 3 days from the date of opening . In the case in which when we open it again we see that the leaves are like broth, there are blackened parts and it does not have a fresh smell and taste, it is best to discard the salad to the organic container and the wrapper to the plastic container, cardboard or as appropriate for the type of material.

If we eat a salad in bad condition, we can also get salmonella. We have to take great care of these types of details, so as not to put our health or that of those around us at risk.

How they are made

These salads and other products that belong to the fourth range such as sausages, grated cheese, potatoes, etc. They come in a protective atmosphere packaging and tend to last very little in the fridge when opened. This is due to the fact that this modified atmosphere does not contain oxygen, which is what facilitates the proliferation of bacteria, microorganisms and the development of chemical reactions in these foods.

As they are fresh ready-to-eat products, they must be stored in a modified atmosphere and applied cold so that it lasts longer in the best conditions, but the moment this atmosphere changes, the food decomposition process accelerates.

Its preparation is simple, it is a fresh product placed in perfect conditions, which helps it to maintain that good appearance as freshly collected and also that smell and taste worthy of a good quality product.

Are fourth range salads a good option?

Be it, they are. We save time and money, since a ready-to-eat salad usually brings tomato, corn, grated carrot, different types of lettuce leaves, olives, etc. However, the other option is bags of ingredients, which in that case we have to put everything that is missing such as tomato, onion, corn, nuts, egg, etc. apart from the dressing.

Technically we save time and money, since those salads, at least the bags of leaves are usually up to less than 1 euro and the complete and ready salads usually do not exceed 4 euros.

If we opt for fresh products, we add the price and the task of peeling and cutting each ingredient and in the end we always end up opting for the prepared ones and the bags.

The healthiest option is to choose each ingredient ourselves: organic, good quality, exact point of maturation and then take care of cleaning, cutting and preparing each ingredient. In addition, this way we save plastic on the planet that there is already more than enough. The theory is good, but in practice you cannot always, you know or you have time and desire.

In addition, the fourth range salads are usually fresh and healthy products, although with a shorter life than each ingredient separately.