Common Food Storage Mistakes

Keep the items in your fridge or cupboards longer by not being sloppy with the repackaging of leftovers or other opened items.

People have a tendency to throw food in the fridge without caring about how it is packaged leading to the spread of mold and odors in your fridge or cabinets. Here are some pointers learned over the years and in watching others on common mistakes people make with the storage of their food.

Clips: This is something I've seen other people do with items like cereal, chips or cookies: Someone will open a package, eat what they want and put the package (as is) back in the cupboard. This is not good. This will ensure that your food goes stale overnight, so get a clip, and it doesn't matter if it's a paper clip. Anything that allows you to keep the bag or package closed will do.

Loose Wrapping: We all have saran wrap or foil in the cupboard. We all use it, but some people do a poor job of wrapping their food. No, you don't have to use military precision, but doing a wrap job that allows air to come in, means you may as well have not even bothered wrapping the food at all. Make sure plastic wrap is on tight, and if it doesn't stick to the container, get a rubber band. I've found that generic brands of plastic wrap don't work as well as the name brands (but with foil, brand names don't matter).

Reuse: Keeping the same wrapping that you got from the store is not the best idea, especially with meat or poultry. It's best to throw out the wrap, which is usually flimsy and harboring germs, and just get a new container or plastic wrap to reseal.

Odors: If you want to avoid the spread of strong odors to other foods in the fridge, do a double wrap. A lot of people will wrap something like a piece of fish once and be done with it. Think twice before doing that, because items such as eggs and milk easily absorb stronger odors, and I doubt you want to drink fish-tinged milk. If you can still smell what you wrapped after the first layer of storage wrap, give it a second layer. Also, consider putting a box of baking soda in the fridge to absorb other odors.

Labels: Unless you remember everything, consider investing in a labeler or just getting some masking tape and a marker to write dates on items in the fridge. People often forget when something went in their fridge and could end up eating something that is spoiled - without even realizing it! Also, items in the freezer should be labeled.

Oversized: Containers that are large, where you can see a lot of remaining space on top of the food, means excess air is being stored with the food. This will speed up the spoiling process. Get the right size container for the amount of food you want to store.

Fridge Door: The door to your fridge is not the same temperature as your fridge. It's slightly warmer. So, items such as eggs and milk should not be stored in the door, but items such as ketchup and mustard are okay for the door.

Hot Foods: If you're packaging away leftovers from tonight's dinner, wait for your food to cool before throwing it in the fridge. If you throw hot food in an airtight container and then put it in the fridge, condensation forms and then mold starts to grow. Let your food cool in a container without the lid - or the lid loosely on - before putting it in the fridge.

Overbuying: Yes, it's tempting to buy 20 pounds of meat from Costco, but if you're not going to eat it soon, either don't buy so much or use the freezer. Portion out what you know you are going to consume within the next few days, and then throw the rest immediately in the freezer (with the date on, of course).

Disposable Containers: Disposable plastic containers (like the ones from Glad) are okay for a second or third use, but once you start to see stains (like from the tomato sauce on the last use) it's best to throw them out.

Breads: Bread is the worst. You can be sure it won't last long- even in a bread box. If you buy in quantity, just store it in the freezer - for up to 3 months.

Nuts: Nuts can be stored in the fridge for up to 6 months and can be in the freezer for as long as a year. So, don't keep them in the cupboard if you know you aren't going to consume them right away.

Cheese: Unless you bought cheese that came in a re-sealable package, it's best to wrap cheese tightly with saran wrap, but even still, it won't last past a week.