You’ve been storing your food in the fridge all wrong – fruit and veg should never be stored in the chill compartment
WE ALL have our own way of storing food in the fridge - some with more of a system in place than others.
But one mum recently discovered a warning label on the inside of her appliance which proves she's been storing her fruit and veg all wrong.
The warning label said that fresh fruit and fresh should NOT be kept in the 'chilled' compartment - which many people mistakenly do.
"So I've had my fridge for well over 10 years and I've only just read this label oops," the mum wrote in a Facebook group.
She revealed that she's been storing apples and avocados in there only for them to eventually freeze, which she said was "frustrating".
She asked other Facebook users what they usually keep in the chilled room drawer, as, clearly, she'd been wrong.
"We put meats and drinks (beer and white wine) in that drawer," one woman wrote.
While another added: "I've gone between cheese, meats, school snacks, chocolates... now it's disposable waters."
Cured meats, cheese, dips and eggs were popular food items which many said they'd kept in the "chilled" compartment.
But there seems to be some debate with many confusing it with the crisper - which is in fact for your fruit and veg.
Jenna Brown, , told Fabulous: "Most models of fridges (in the UK) will have one or two salad crisper drawers, which are specifically designed store your fruit and veg as the humidity levels within these drawers help to prolong the life of these foods.
"Some fridges may also then come with an additional 'Chill Drawer' which can be used to store high risk foods such as meats and fish and are designed to hold the temperature within this compartment regardless of temperature fluctuations within the fridge. "
Jenna's food storage tips:
Knowing how to store food once you get it home from the supermarket and organise your fridge correctly will help you avoid food poisoning by reducing the risk of cross contamination between raw and ready to eat foods as well as helping you to reduce food wastage.
- Check the temperature of your fridge - To reduce the risk of food poisoning, make sure your fridge is running between 1-5⁰C. If you’re not sure, it might be worth investing in a fridge thermometer (you can usually pick one of these up for less than £5)
- Organise your fridge - Make sure you store raw meat and fish separately from ready to eat foods. The best place to store raw meat and raw fish is the bottom shelf – not only does this prevent cross contamination of juices dripping onto other foods below, but is also the coldest part of the fridge.
- Know where to store food - Keep cooked and ready to eat foods higher up and save the doors for condiments, jams and juices as the doors are most at risk of temperature fluctuations.
- First in – First out - When returning from the supermarket, put new foods at the back so using older products first will come naturally!
- Keep an eye on used-by dates - Opening a product with a use by date (more on these next); such as ham or milk, will change the shelf life and usually mean it needs to be used within the next few days, or popped in the freezer!
- Don't be tempted to overfill your fridge - Overfilling your fridge could increase the temperature to levels which allow food poisoning bacteria to multiply rapidly so make sure there is good circulation of air flow within your fridge at all times.
More advice can be found on , The food Safety Mum.
