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Holy cow, you’ve probably been storing your milk wrong — because it shouldn’t be in the door of your refrigerator.
According to experts, milk, as it turns out, should never be kept in that convenient spot since it doesn’t stay cold enough to keep from spoiling.
“Each time you open the door, it leaves the contents inside it exposed to the warm temperatures within the surrounding room,” one Chowhound contributor claimed.
“And unless it still somehow remains consistently between 32 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit, the warmth and the fluctuation of temperature promote an environment where bacteria can grow.”
The best place to store milk, they claim, is on the lower shelves of the fridge as far back as possible.
“Heat rises, meaning the lower your milk is kept, the cooler it’ll stay,” Chowhound reported.
Signs of bad milk include changes in color, curdling, crusting or an odor — not to mention a taste that will make your stomach churn.
“Always keep a check on how cold your milk is to drink or touch,” food safety worker Theresa Keane previously told Metro. “The milk container should be too cold to hold. Then only buy the amount of milk you know you will use up relatively quickly. Buy small and often.”
Other fridge storage faux pas include cross-contamination, caused by storing raw meat alongside ready-to-eat items.
“Raw foods like raw meat and fish should be stored on the bottom of the fridge in covered containers to avoid biological cross-contamination and the dripping of blood,” Keane said.
“Raw vegetables that may have soil still attached should be washed dried and also kept in a covered container and always above raw meat and fish. In general having loose foods placed in lidded containers is a good idea and prolongs shelf life.”
Meanwhile, putting too much food in the fridge can also lead to inadequate cold air flow, causing food to expire much more quickly.
“Overloading is very risky as cross-contamination of hazards like allergens and biological elements can happen,” Keane warned. “Even physical hazards like pieces of plastic can get into other foods if your fridge is bulging.”
