Table 27.
Examples of delay times between harvest and consumption of food products (duration of processing and storage).
| Delay timea | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Food type | Typical | Minimum | Maximum |
| Leafy vegetables | 4 days | 1 day | 7 days |
| Fruit vegetables | 7 days | 2 days | 14 days |
| Root vegetables | 10 days | 7 days | 14 days |
| Potatoes and beets | 3 months | 7 days | 6 months |
| Cereals and cereal products | 6 months | 45 days | 1 year |
| Fresh apples and pears | 3.5 months | 0 | 8 months |
| Fresh drupe fruits, soft fruit, rhubarb | 4 days | 0 | 8 days |
| Canned fruit | 1 year | 14 days | 2 years |
| Frozen fruit | 6 months | 7 days | 1 year |
| Jams and jellies | 1 year | 1 day | 2 years |
| Milkb | 2 days | 1 day | 6 days |
| Butter | 1 month | 3 days | 3 months |
| Cream | 5 days | 2 days | 10 days |
| Skim milk | 2 days | 1 day | 6 days |
| Cheese (rennet process) | 1.5 months | 30 days | 3 months |
| Cheese (acid process) | 1 month | 7 days | 2 months |
| Fresh beef | 20 days | 14 days | 28 days |
| Fresh pork, veal | 4 days | 2 days | 7 days |
| Fresh chicken | 4 days | 2 days | 7 days |
| Fresh lamb | 10 days | 7 days | 14 days |
| Fresh game | 10 days | 2 days | 20 days |
| Eggs | 14 days | 2 days | 28 days |
aFrom IAEA (2010, Table 81).
bIAEA (2010) does not distinguish between backyard and commercial dairy animals or between cows and goats.