A reader named Ms. Zhang called to say that she is an office worker with no time for grocery shopping. She buys a large quantity of vegetables and meat on her days off and stores them all in the refrigerator or in the kitchen, cooking from them as needed each day. Recently, she noticed that different types of foods stored together can transfer flavors, for instance, her eggs absorbed the onion smell after being stored with onions. She wants to know if such flavor transfer affects the nutritional value of the food.
A nutrition expert has reminded that some foods should not be stored together. For example, fresh eggs should not be stored with ginger or onions. The eggshell has many tiny pores, and the strong odors of ginger and onions can penetrate these pores, accelerating the spoilage of the eggs. Over time, the eggs will become rotten. Rice and fruits should also not be stored together, as rice tends to generate heat, and when fruits are heated, they easily lose moisture and dry out. The rice, in turn, will absorb this moisture and may become moldy or develop insects. Some people are accustomed to storing bread and cookies together, but this is not advisable due to their different moisture contents. Bread has a higher moisture content; when stored together, cookies will become soft and lose their crispiness, while the bread will become hard and unpleasant to eat. Additionally, cucumbers and tomatoes should be stored separately. Tomatoes contain ethylene, and when stored together, they can easily cause cucumbers to rot and spoil.[美食中国]