First Step:  Temperature Check

The first item of business in refrigerator safety is to check your refrigerator temperature.

• It’s a good idea to have a separate thermometer in your refrigerator to make sure it stays at 40°F or below, or to check the temperature if the power goes out, or your refrigerator stops working properly. There is a specific way to check the temperature. For information on this, check out this link from the University of Minnesota Extension: Refrigerator Tips
• It is also important to have a thermometer in your freezer to make sure it stays at or below 0°F

Second Step:  Food Placement

Next, we will look at the placement of food in the refrigerator. Different foods have different designated spots in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage. Knowing how to store items in your refrigerator can also help prevent food-borne illnesses.

Top shelf:

• Place any leftovers on the top shelf. Leftovers can stay here for 2-3 days. To make it easy, use clear containers with labels and dates on them to know when the food needs to be tossed out.
• Leftovers should be in the refrigerator within 2 hours of sitting out.

To learn more about how to cool down foods properly, follow this link:Keep Those Leftovers Safe

Bottom shelf:

• Perishable, uncooked foods will go on the bottom shelf
• Place raw meat, chicken, and seafood on a plate in a wrapped container or place in a sealed container to prevent any juice from leaking onto anything else.
• Milk and eggs should be stored on the bottom shelf beside the wrapped plate/sealed container of raw meat. Do not place milk in the refrigerator door-the temperature in this space fluctuates more than the temperature deeper inside the refrigerator. Keep the doors closed as much as possible.
• Refrigerate foods that are perishable (meat, seafood, dairy, cut fruit, leftovers) within 2 hours of sitting out (1 hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F). These foods need to be below 40°F. If left out in temperatures between 40°F and 135°F, bacteria will grow rapidly. Some bacteria cannot be killed off through cooking.

Crisper drawers:

• Fruits and vegetables should be placed in the sealed, crisper drawers to prolong their life. You can set the two different crisper drawers at different humidity levels for different kinds of produce. The low-humidity setting is for produce that ripens quickly (e.g. apples, pears and avocados) and the high-humidity setting is for produce that wilts easily (e.g. leafy greens and fresh herbs).

Doors:

• It is alright to store condiments inside the refrigerator door since they are more stable and have longer shelf lives. Some condiments do not need to be refrigerated, but the quality can diminish if they are not.

Other Tips:

Check out the FoodKeeper app for information on how long foods will last in the pantry, refrigerator, or the freezer. 

Reference:

Food Safety.gov