People Are Realising Why Microwave Meals Have Such A Long Shelf Life, And I Had It All Wrong

<div><img src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/68e5303d140000dc1a5c736e.jpg?ops=scalefit_630_noupscale" alt="microwave meal" data-caption="microwave meal" data-credit-link-back="" data-credit="Defrino Maasy via Unsplash" />microwave meal</div><div class="content-list-component text"><p>Ever come across a question you didn’t realise you urgently needed an answer to until someone asks it?</p><p>That happens to me all the time when I’m scrolling through social media. And recently, a peek at Reddit’s <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-expanded="false">r/AskUK</a> got my thoughts racing. </p><p>“How does this tikka masala ready meal have a five-week shelf life with 0.5% salt and no obvious preservatives?”, site user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Beautiful-Salt7885/" aria-label="Author: Beautiful-Salt7885" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-expanded="false">u/Beautiful-Salt7885</a> asked members of the forum. </p><p>They <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1ny2yul/how_does_this_tikka_masala_ready_meal_have_a_5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">attached an image</a> of a microwave meal’s ingredient list before asking, “Is there an error with the best before?” </p></div><div class="iframely-embed"><div class="iframely-responsive" style="height: 500px; padding-bottom: 0;"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1ny2yul/how_does_this_tikka_masala_ready_meal_have_a_5/?seeker-session=true" data-iframely-url="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FAskUK%2Fcomments%2F1ny2yul%2Fhow_does_this_tikka_masala_ready_meal_have_a_5%2F&key=03a58c747ae3b2d