Before refrigeration at home

• Be aware that management of your refrigerated food supply starts when you are shopping.
• Buy only the best quality food. Bargains may have a reduced shelf life. You only end up wasting money by throwing out spoiled food.
• Meats, seafood, dairy products and prepared foods (salads, quiches) should only ever be bought from a refrigerated display.
• Don't buy swollen refrigerated food packages. Microbes have grown and produced gas, indicating that they've been stored at warm temperatures or that they are going off.
• Examine chilled products packed in transparent films for mould growth.
• Take a Tupperware container with you when shop. Buy refrigerated food last. Never leave chilled foods sitting in the car for long periods.
• As soon as you get home read the storage instructions on packaged foods. Then if necessary refrigerate them to avoid reducing storage life.
• Avoid overbuying; remember refrigerated foods are perishable and only have a limited shelf life.

This information is adapted from Food Science Australia.

Keep in mind these general tips

• All perishable and cooked food needs to be stored in the fridge. This will not only prevent the growth of food poisoning bacteria, but it will reduce spoilage.
• Always store ready to eat food (food that is eaten raw or will not be further cooked) above raw food. Store raw meats, fish and poultry where it is coldest - the bottom shelf.
• Make sure raw meat juices don't drip onto other foods (they might contain bacteria). If you have to store them above other foods, put them in Tupperware.
• Keep raw and cooked foods separated in the fridge.
• Cover any cooked or ready-to-eat foods stored in the fridge to reduce the risk of cross contamination.
• Don't overcrowd food in your fridge. To cool food properly the air must be able to circulate around the food.
• Cool cooked food until steam stops rising. Then place the food directly into a Tupperware container.

This information is adapted from Food Safety Information Council.

Be aware of storage life of chilled foods

Store these in the coldest part of the refrigeration section of your refrigerator. These food groups will generally keep for the amount of time indicated below (but this depends on variables such as their freshness at the time of purchase, fridge conditions etc).

• Seafood: 3 days
• Crustaceans and molluscs: 2 days
• Meat: 3-5 days; minced meat 2-3 days; cured meat 2-3 weeks
• Poultry: 3 days
• Fruit juices: 7-14 days
• Milk: 5-7 days
• Cream: 5 days
• Cheese variable: (1-3 months); soft cheeses e.g. camembert, brie 2-3 weeks; cottage, ricotta, cream cheeses 10 days
• Eggs: 3-6 weeks
• Butter: 8 weeks; margarine: variable (6 months)

This information is adapted from Food Science Australia.