How Long Do Factor Meals Last (+Storing Tips)

Meal prepping is a great way to save time when you’re making healthy meals. You can put away meals for another day and not have to worry about them. Sometimes, that takes more time than quite a few people have.

That’s why meal prep companies like Factor meals are so popular. These take all of the effort out of it while delivering you healthy meals. It leads to several questions, however. Exactly how long do Factor meals last?

Can you store them? Will they last long in a fridge? How long do Factor meals last in the fridge?

These are all important questions, and they shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s worth diving into their answers and making sure you know everything you need to know.

Understanding Factor Meals

It’s first worth taking a look at what Factor is and what it offers. A weekly meal delivery service, it focuses on delivering healthy meals to each of its customers. These Factor meals have a gourmet twist on the classic heat-and-eat formula alternatives offer.

The company itself employs dieticians and chefs to come up with its meal plans and cook these meals. Alongside well-known comfort food, international cuisine is also mixed in. Customers have a wide range of dishes to enjoy.

Dietary preferences are also taken into account. Customers have a rotating selection of 35 dishes to choose from every week. From vegetarian to keto diets, these dishes are catered specifically to customer needs.

But, how exactly does it work?

Customers set up an account, through which they’ll access Factor’s menu and ordering system. Every week, customers can look through the menu and decide what they want for the week. It’s a quick and easy way to put together a weekly meal plan.

The platform also gives users the ability to pick how many meals they get every week. The options are:

• 6
• 8
• 10
• 12
• 14
• 18

Once the profile is properly set up, and the payment information put in, customers get their meals delivered every week. This is in batches, so you’ll then need to store the meals until you eat them.

That opens up the questions of how long you can store them for. How long do Factor meals last before they go off? That depends on a few factors, so it’s worth diving a little more into this.

Shelf Life of Factor Meals

The company boasts they can last up to a week at a time. That way, you can eat your meals in any order you like without needing to worry about them spoiling. Whether or not they actually last the full seven days can be debatable, however.

In most cases, you’ll have to store the meals in the fridge for them to last this long. Don’t leave them out in the open or keep them at room temperature.

Keeping them in their packaging until eating is also recommended. It’ll help extend their shelf life, and they shouldn’t have a problem lasting the full week. If left in the fridge for more than a week, it should spoil and mightn’t be edible.

To help them last longer, keep Factor meals in the freezer. It extends their shelf life by several weeks, and it should taste exactly the same as it did before. Proper storage tips will need to be adhered to, however, as not doing it properly could lead to freezer burn and similar problems.

Speaking of which, it’s worth diving into some storage techniques and tips that every Factor customer should use. They should extend the shelf life of their meals while also making sure they still taste amazing.

Proper Storage Techniques and Tips

Though the general answer to the question how long do Factor meals last is up to seven days, that depends on several factors. The most notable of these is how they’re stored. The better stored they are, the longer they should last.

Even the decision between storing in the fridge versus in the freezer is an important one to make. It’s far from the only one, however.

Using the right storage techniques and tips is essential. It’ll make sure your Factor meals will last while making sure they also taste great. Some of the more notable of these are:

• Use the Right Containers – The type of containers you should use to store your food depends on the food you’re storing. Keep everything in the right containers. This helps avoid cross-contamination and other issues. It could be worth getting airtight containers to help your Factor meals last as long as possible.
• Label Your Containers – A great storage tip for any kind of meal prepping is to label your containers. Don’t just include what the dish is. Highlight when it was made and stored so you know whether you can still eat it.
• Take a First-In, First-Out Approach – It’s easy not to have some kind of system when you’re storing Factor meals. It’s always worth having one, though. The first meal put into your fridge or freezer should be the first one you take out. It avoids food staying there until it spoils.
• Decide on the Fridge or Freezer – Factor meals last different amounts of time depending on whether you keep them in the fridge or in the freezer. They’ll last up to a week in the fridge, but they could last several weeks in the freezer. Know which one is best for you.

Once these are used, Factor meals should last longer in a fridge or a freezer. There’s no reason why Factor customers shouldn’t take advantage of them. That doesn’t mean there’s no choice they’ll spoil, however.

Quite the opposite. There’s always a possibility they could go off, and it’s always worth being aware of the signs this is happening.

Recognizing Signs of Spoilage

How long do Factor meals last? Up to a week. Anything beyond that, and they’ll start to spoil. Any Factor customer should be aware of the signs their meals have started going bad. While some signs are obvious, others aren’t.

It’s worth diving into some of the more notable of these signs:

1. There’s A Slimy Film – Some meats can develop a slimy film as they start to spoil. It’s the first thing anyone should look for when looking for spoiled meat. Something similar also happens with vegetables and salad. If it’s there, then the food is best thrown out.
2. The Texture Is Wrong – Every food has a specific texture that’s unique to that food. When it starts to spoil, however, this texture becomes more and more different. Harder fruits and vegetables, for example, could become soft and squishy. When this happens, it’s worth throwing the food out.
3. There’s Visible Mold – This is one of the more obvious signs of spoilage with quite a few foods. It’s most commonly seen in cheese and bread, but it can grow on quite a few other foods, too. If there’s mold on any of the food, it’s best gotten rid of quickly.
4. They’re Caked In Frost – If something’s stored in the freezer, it can still spoil. The most notable sign of this is when the food is caked in frost. Check for this with any food being taken out of the freezer. While it mightn’t be completely inedible, it mightn’t taste as good.
5. There’s Discoloration – All foods have their specific colors, but that doesn’t mean they always stay that way. Sometimes, they can start to discolor. This is a notable sign it’s starting to spoil. Avoid eating anything discolored, whether it’s a Factor meal or anything else.
6. There’s An Odor – Perhaps the most obvious sign of spoilage is the fact there’s an odor coming from the food. In many cases, this can be relatively rancid. This is best gotten rid of as soon as you can, and you shouldn’t keep it in your kitchen. It’ll not only be smelly, but it could spoil the other food.

Naturally, when the food is close to its best by date, it’s at a much higher risk of spoiling. With Factor meals, you should expect that to be at around the seven day mark. After that, it’s best to avoid eating it.

Be on the lookout for each of the above signs. Even if only one or two of them are visible, take it as a sign the food is spoiled and should be avoided.

Final Thoughts

So, how long do Factor meals last? That depends on how you store it and where. Just in the box, it could be as little as a day or two. In the fridge, however, they can last up to a week, but only if properly stored.

The freezer offers a longer storage time. But, how long do Factor meals last in the freezer? That could be up to a few months, but it’s recommended you don’t do them for too long.

While Factor meals can taste great when you first get them, that mightn’t be the case after several months in the freezer. Fresh is always best, so it’s worth having your meals within a few days of getting it.