Extremely harmful ways to store food in the refrigerator

Many people have the habit of opening the refrigerator and then hesitating to think about what to take out, waiting a long time before closing it, and this can be harmful to health. Illustration photo.

Storing fresh meat in the freezer for too long

When preserving meat, we should keep it in the freezer of the refrigerator to keep it longer, but not more than 1 week. If kept in the refrigerator, it should only be kept for 2 days. Processed meat can be kept for 3-5 days. Meat not kept in the freezer but kept in the refrigerator for too long will also cause harmful bacteria to develop, corrode the nutrients in the meat and lose all the flavor of the meat.

Do not wash fresh meat before freezing.

Many people when bringing meat home, stuff it all in bags and put it in the freezer. This method will lose all the nutrients and flavor of the meat. Therefore, you need to freeze meat properly. First, wash the meat, then dry it and put it in a food bag, or a separate food storage box and write the date on it before freezing. Because if you do not wash the meat, dirt and bacteria will stick to the meat, which is not good.

Refreeze meat after use

Many people think that after thawing meat that is not eaten, they put it back in the freezer to freeze it again. However, this method unintentionally causes the bacteria to increase many times. Any cells that escape the process of being broken down when the food is first frozen are at risk of being broken down again. Therefore, we do not refreeze food after we have eaten leftovers.

Leaving the refrigerator door open for too long

Many people have the habit of opening the refrigerator and then thinking about what to take out, waiting a long time before closing it. This is one of the reasons why the refrigerator loses heat, creating conditions for bacteria to penetrate and grow.

Many people have the habit of opening the refrigerator and then hesitating to think about what to take out, then closing it for a long time, and this can be harmful to health. Illustrative photo

Some bacteria can survive and multiply in the refrigerator for a long time, which can cause food poisoning. Listeria, which can cause flu-like symptoms and more serious diseases such as sepsis or meningitis, can grow at temperatures between -1°C and 4°C.

Store raw chicken on the top shelf.

Raw chicken is often contaminated with campylobacter bacteria, which can cause stomach cramps, fever, and diarrhea. If you keep chicken on the top shelf, the juices can drip onto vegetables and poison you if you eat them raw.

Therefore, you should put chicken in a sealed container and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. You can also separate fresh food from processed, cooked food.

Do not cover leftover food

Every day, many people leave leftover food on the plate and put it in the refrigerator to preserve for the next meal. Even many dishes with odors and saltiness such as fish sauce bowls and leftover braised fish dishes are left in the refrigerator without being covered or covered with plastic bags. From here, bacteria have the conditions to grow and certainly your refrigerator will always have an unpleasant smell. Because with the moderate cooling or cold temperature of the refrigerator, some bacteria are only stopped or reduced in activity but not completely destroyed. Some other bacteria still grow, not to mention that there are many types of bacteria that are very fond of the cold today.

You should store leftovers in clean, tightly covered containers or wrapped in plastic wrap. You should also refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, and there is no need to wait for the food to cool before storing it in the refrigerator, as modern refrigerators are capable of handling the heat.

To mix raw and cooked food

Many families buy vegetables that have not been cut off the roots, fresh fish, eggs that still have feces on them, meat of all kinds, fresh fruit that has not been washed... and put them in the refrigerator. These bags of food have a lot of dirt on them and are left all over the market or the water from the food accidentally spills and gets all over the refrigerator.

At the same time, uneaten cooked food is also... thrown in here. All of that makes the refrigerator a messy food storage while cleaning is not done regularly.

Therefore, raw food should be washed before being put in the refrigerator, put in clean, sealed bags or boxes. Meat and fish should be stored in the freezer, and in the refrigerator for only 1-2 days.

According to the Messenger