Ice the Germs in Your Fridge

By Colleen Walsh Fong

An average of 7850 bacteria colony forming units live in the average square centimeter of home refrigerator salad drawers according to a recent UK study. Yuck, right? It gets worse. Bacteria can double in the fridge every 12 hours.

I can cook all day long, but I really hate cleaning. And although I’m a pretty organized person and get discombobulated by clutter I must admit that things seem to amass at an alarming rate in my refrigerator.  I guess it’s a case of out of sight out of mind. As long as the clutter isn’t in clear view I can ignore it.  But there are good reasons for keeping kitchen storage places clean. And since November 15th is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day I thought I’d mention a couple more of them besides the bacteria information above.

Keeping a clean and organized refrigerator makes it easy to find the food products you’re looking for. Especially when you need to grab something in a hurry, as when you’re in the middle of preparing a recipe and forgot to use the mis en place system.

Sorting through your refrigerated foods on a regular basis ensures that you remove spoiled food before an unwitting family member or resident decides to make a treat out of it. And the nasty odor of food turned bad can linger on long after it’s been tossed.

People are busier than ever these days so tasks like cleaning out the refrigerator can get bumped to the bottom of “must do” lists because they don’t seem critical. Most of us wouldn’t leave old food on our counter tops, stovetops, and tables because we want to keep our kitchens as clean and germ free as possible. Washing these surfaces is automatic after a meal is prepared and consumed.

The best way to keep refrigerators clean is to clean as you go so it doesn’t become an overwhelming task that you want to keep kicking down the line. Open the door each night after washing the table and wipe up any milk the kids spilled, or unknown sticky substances before they have a chance to form bacteria. Mixing equal parts of vinegar and warm water yields an excellent green cleaning agent to keep refrigerator bacteria at bay. An open box of baking soda will absorb odors, so keep one in there on a regular basis, and change it out every three months.

The best time for a weekly purge of past-their-prime refrigerator contents is the night before your weekly garbage pick up. Move the yucky stuff directly from the fridge to the garbage bag and take it right out to the curb. 

Keeping your fridge clean is easy when you do it every day, and Easy in the kitchen always works for me!

Photo Courtesy of scottchan / Free Digital Photos