A Note About Spices

These are a few of my favorite spices. I'm sorry for the ishy picture but I could not find ones online to show you. I love the Full Circle Organic spices for several reasons..  The first is that, well, the jars are PURTY! The shape caught my eye first when I was shopping for a few things (I now spend an embarrassing amount of time browsing the spice aisle every time I go into the grocery store. I never in a million years thought I would be THAT EXCITED about spices.) The second is that they are organically grown and the third is that I like their philosophy. Here is a bit about them from their own website:

     At Full Circle^TM we believe natural and organic products are an important part of a healthy and well-rounded lifestyle.  That is our passion.  For over 10 years, we have been sourcing great-tasting products through our partnerships with the best growers to deliver great-tasting, high-quality products made from only the finest natural and organic ingredients.  That's why we join only with supplier-partners who follow the strictest guidelines for sustainability in order to protect Mother Earth.  Together, we have been committed to providing products that are minimally processed, and free of artificial preservatives, artificial colors, and artificial flavorings.  Over the years, Full Circle^TM has tirelessly sourced products across the United States, expanding our line to over 1,000 items.  Our calling: "Return to a natural way of living."^TM was created with you, the inspired consumer, in mind!  We know you are passionate about giving your family the very best and we hope we can be a part of that mission!

And did I mention that their square jars are just GORGEOUS?! Their square, clear, beautifully different glass jars?!

Unfortunately the fact that they ARE clear poses a problem. Do you know what that is? I will tell you what that is.

Molecular breakdown. Heat and light are 2 things for you to think about when it comes to the storage of your spices. The less breakdown that occurs on the molecular level, the better tasting the spice will be.

The Wiley Online Library has a phrase on the effect of light on meat

When exposed to fluorescent light (250–1000 1x) at 4°C, luncheon meat containing erythrosine undergoes marked flavour deterioration in a few hours which is perceived mainly as a loss of flavour. The effect increased with light intensity and time of exposure but is absent in luncheon meat without added colours or with Red 2G in place of erythrosine. The results are consistent with the unique ability of erythrosine (amongst artificial food colours) to act as a sensitiser of photo-oxidation.

The  US National Library of Medicine says this about the effect of light on milk

To determine the effects of light exposure on vitamin A degradation and on light-oxidized flavor development, samples of whole, reduced fat, and nonfat milk were exposed to fluorescent light (either 1000 or 2000 lx) at time intervals of 2, 4, 8, or 16 h. Measurable vitamin A losses occurred at 2, 4, and 16 h at 2000 lx for nonfat, reduced fat and whole milk, respectively. Moderate light-oxidized flavors were detected after 4 h of light exposure (2000 lx) in the whole and reduced fat milk and after 8 h in nonfat milk. The different types of milk show a significant difference in relative flavor scores. By 16 h at 2000 lx, relative light-oxidized flavor development was lower in nonfat milk than in whole or reduced fat milk. The presence of milk fat appears to protect against vitamin A degradation in fluid products, but adversely affects the flavor quality of milk after exposure to light. In summary, these findings demonstrate that even a brief, moderate light exposure (2 h; 2000 lx) can reduce the nutritional value and flavor quality of fluid milk products.

PMID: 11913693

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

There wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that some of the effects in the two blurbs would also be happening to your spices if exposed to light, whether sunlight or fluorescent.

I currently have my spices in the cupboard above my oven but the danger of that is the heat from the oven causing breakdown as well. Having been actually INVESTING in good spices lately, I want them to STAY good (and okay, I'm running out of room for my lil' obsession) so I've got to move them elsewhere. Out of the cupboard I risk light damage.

Here's my plan.... eventually I'm going to measure the stud width in my house, go to a building supply store (bring a magnet with me), choose a wide enough sheet of stainless steel (probably 2 studs widths -to cover the stud on the left, pass over a middle stud, and cover the stud on the right) that has enough magnetic oomph to hold a spice jar, install that on my kitchen/dining room wall with heavy duty screws and semi-large washers (I'll paint these a neat color, these are just for flash), buy some tins from SKS Bottle, hot glue a magnet on the back, and slap them on the sheet of steel. Can you picture this? oooooooooohhhh I can!!!!

I think I can do all relatively soon and relatively inexpensively EXCEPT the tins. That will have to wait. If I get this sheet up, I think I'll have to glue magnets on the back of my existing spice jars until I can get the tins.


WHEN I do this, because I WILL do this, I will post pictures!!

How do you store your spices?