For many people, the refrigerator is the safest place to store food no matter what. In fact, however, the refrigerator is the second dirtiest place in the home, according to the Global Health Council’s (GHC) Household Health Report. These three foods must not be placed in the refrigerator, so as not to cause disease.
You may not believe that the refrigerator is the place to store food, why is it so dirty? According to the Global Health Council’s (GHC) Home Health Report, refrigerators contain an average of 11.4 million bacteria per square centimeter, which is dirtier than a toilet seat.
The low temperature of a refrigerator or freezer can inhibit the growth and activity of bacteria, putting them into a “hibernation” state, but it does not act as a disinfectant. The pathogenic bacteria in the refrigerator are mainly Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus… All can exist in the temperature range of 0-45 degrees Celsius.
This is why you should store food in airtight containers and packaging before placing it in the refrigerator to reduce the effect of bacteria on your food. However, there are 3 foods that should be thrown out instead of in the refrigerator, which can cause food to spoil quickly, go bad, and endanger your health.
1. Broken eggs
Eggshells are fragile and can break if you’re not careful. So far the egg part has unfortunately been thrown away. In this case, many people store spoiled egg whites and yolks in the refrigerator for later preservation and use. However, Salmonella is most likely to be present in cracked or broken eggs.
Once the body is infected with Salmonella, symptoms such as abdominal pain and nausea can occur. In severe cases, it can cause diarrhea and lead to dehydration.
So if an egg cracks or cracks, it’s best to eat it right away. If spoiled eggs must be stored in the refrigerator, use them as soon as possible and try to cook them, as this disease-causing bacteria can be killed by high heat. High.
2. Poor quality milk
Not long ago, a pregnant woman in Hangzhou, China unpacked, sealed, and refrigerated leftover milk the day before it was used, and contracted Listeria, resulting in a poisoning reaction. serious, eventually leading to miscarriage.
Not surprisingly, summer is a time when bacterial infection rates are so high that the State Food and Drug Administration has issued food hazard warnings. Get Listeria every year. Listeria can survive for a long time at low temperatures and often exist in seafood such as milk, raw meat, fish, and shrimp.
Listeria is so smart that it chooses the elderly, pregnant women, infants and people with weaker resistance as its main pathogen. Once infected, people experience symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and muscle aches. If left untreated, patients may develop meningitis and sepsis.
To avoid this, it’s best to drink milk fully open, and if you don’t use it all at once, keep the package tightly closed to minimize the risk of bacteria entering the milk and consuming the remainder. . as soon as possible.
3. Cold dishes
When many people eat salads and other cold dishes, the rest is wasted, and direct refrigeration can save costs. This is what many people think. But in fact, for this type of food, after taking it out of the refrigerator, we generally eat it directly without cooking and heat sterilization, so the risk of bacterial infection is higher.
Food taken out of the refrigerator must be reheated and cooked before it is safe to eat again. In summer, the temperature is high, and cold dishes cannot be heated or refrigerated. If you don’t eat it, it’s best to throw it away.
