Spring-Clean Your Fridge

After I finished a few Today Show segments on food safety, I took a look in my fridge to do some "spring cleaning". I went out and bought a refrigerator thermometer, to check the real temperature. I had been rotating between "cold" and "colder" whenever I had a lot of food to be stored. No guesswork anymore - I'm set at 38 degrees, well within the safety zone of "under 40 degrees".

Next up - checking the expiration dates of foods, starting with the condiments - salad dressings were the biggest culprit. Could I really have "light" blue cheese dressing from a "use by" date of 12/06? That was gone, as well as a variety of mustards and some ancient jelly. I'd already been storing my eggs in the original carton, to avoid the mystery question of when I had purchased them. Okay there - expiration at the end of April. Also tossed were grated cheese, and some single-serving low fat puddings that were about a week out of date (another use by). I checked on other wrapped foods, from turkey hot dogs to milk to yogurt, and I was okay there. Any packaged deli meat that was opened, even with an expiration date stamped weeks in the future, was discarded if I couldn't remember the last time I took something from the package in the past 3 days. Those dates are meaningless once the package is unwrapped!

I cleaned the shelves, and put a fresh baking soda carton in to absorb some odors, feeling pretty good about my activity. It's now on my monthly "to do" list. While I thought I was fairly attentive to the contents of my fridge, I found some room for improvement. I really do want to minimize the likelihood of food-borne illness occurring in a family member or me! A clean fridge is a great step in that direction.

What tips do you have for cleaning out and organizing your fridge? How often do you do it? I'd like to accumulate some information from you, and then revisit this topic from time to time.

Comments

Until now, I hadn't even thought about cleaning my fridge.

How can food borne illness happen from some old bananas, expired creamer, or a package of bacon I should have thrown away last week?

It's interesting how you don't even think about what's in there until someone reminds you.

I am wondering if I should toss the deli meat I bought on 3/28. Doesn't smell bad. What's the rule of thumb?

Dr. Fernstrom,

Regarding the "cold" and "colder" settings on your fridge, when I put food on the top shelf of mine, it almost freezes. Is this because it's closer to the freezer than the other shelves, or did my landlord just buy a cheap fridge?

I'm paranoid about experitation dates, and throw everything away immediately, but what else can can you recommend I do to make my situation as illness-preventative as possible?

Thanks!

I think the deli meat rule is 10 days, but I could be wrong.

This deli meat rule is really a guideline. I think if you get the fresh from the deli- when they slice it in front of you and wrap it - it's best to throw out in 3 days. ALWAYS ask when the meat was cut - if it's not the same day, I'd definitely be careful and use the same day or the next. If you buy the vacuum-packed deli, the date is several weeks. That's only until you open the package! I'd use a maximum of 5 days for storage. While Aaron could be right, I don't think I'd keep deli around for 10 days. It could be okay, but it's hard to say.

What about cheeses and cured meats from the market?

I have actually found that cheeses last about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks. I am the type of person who throuroughly inspects all food before consumption, so I would say that is the best way to determine if something is OK to eat or not. When in doubt, throw it out!

We make sure our frig is faily cleaned out every two weeks. That's cheese, meats, yogurt & jellies. We very seldom use ketchup (too much sugar) and mustard keeps quite a long time. When we see a shelf get dirty, we clean that one. Then it's not such a big job. My freezer is another problem!

what is the expired date on spagetti that is boxed. we have unopened boxes with 10/07 expired dates. can these still be used safely?