A recent study found that about 20% of households keep their refrigerators at the wrong temperature. While it is common for people to store food at the default settings, according to the research, many were keeping food at temperatures that were more damaging than preservation.
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- Who was behind the study?
- What did they discover?
- Why was the study necessary?
- How did the study help?
Who was behind the study?
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Researchers from RMIT University in Australia curated the interesting study with Dr. Bhavna Middha as the lead author of the study.
What did they discover?
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Dr. Middha shared, “Most households blame their own behaviors, such as misreading the expiration date, before considering that their refrigerator could be the culprit.”
Although the researchers suggest that Refrigerated items should ideally be stored between 35.6°F and 44.6°F (2 to 7 degrees Celsius).About 17% of people tend to keep their refrigerators at temperatures above or below this range.
Why was the study necessary?
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Supported by the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Center and Meat and Livestock Australia, experts highlighted that Australians throw away a minimum of 140,300 tonnes of meat a year. To address the problem of food waste in homes, researchers examined the temperature settings of refrigerators and freezers in 56 homes.
Middha explained: “When food is too hot, bacteria multiply too quickly. When food is too cold, it can freeze or freezer burn. Both conditions cause food to spoil.”
How did the study help?
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In their observations, the researchers identified varying temperatures inside the refrigerators, with certain shelves registering as high as 50°F (10 degrees Celsius), while others dipped as low as 30°F (-1 degree Celsius).
In particular, households with children often experienced fluctuating temperatures, due to frequent opening of the refrigerator, which occurred up to 20 times a day.
Middha added: “The research found that households are not aware that their refrigerators could cause their food to spoil faster, especially if the refrigerator temperature is higher than standard.”
The prevalence of households following inaccurate food storage practices has led researchers to advocate for greater awareness of food safety. Middha thought: “A single food storage advice platform could be a really useful tool to combat all the conflicting food storage advice that confuses households.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn