Don't Use Your Refrigerator as a "Food Sterilizer"
Many people are accustomed to storing large quantities of food in the refrigerator for long periods, treating it like a "food sterilizer" at home, believing that food stored in the refrigerator is hygienic. In fact, because refrigerators store food for long periods without regular cleaning, they can breed many bacteria.
Dr. Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, suggests that food in the refrigerator may still look fresh on the outside, but it may have actually spoiled. The storage time for cooked meat in the refrigerator should not exceed 4 days.
The common refrigeration temperature for food preservation is 4 to 8°C. At this temperature, the growth rate of most bacteria slows down. However, some bacteria are psychrophilic, such as *Yersinia* and *Listeria*, which can actually multiply rapidly at this temperature. Consuming food infected with these bacteria can cause intestinal diseases.
In the freezer of a refrigerator, the temperature is generally around -18°C. At this temperature, most bacteria are inhibited or killed, so food stored here has a better preservative effect. However, freezing does not equal complete sterilization, and some bacteria with strong cold resistance can survive. For example: *Mycobacterium tuberculosis* and *Salmonella typhi*. Even when placed in liquid air at -193°C or liquid hydrogen at -250°C, they cannot be frozen to death. Therefore, some people call *Mycobacterium tuberculosis* and *Salmonella typhi* "indestructible by cold bacteria." Most microorganisms have a strong resistance to low temperatures. Therefore, although freezing can preserve food for a long time, the microorganisms in the food are not dead. Once the temperature rises, they will continue to grow and multiply. Therefore, food stored in the refrigerator must be reheated before consumption, otherwise it can also cause intestinal infectious diseases or even food poisoning.
Therefore, from another perspective, if a refrigerator is not disinfected regularly, it can instead become a "breeding ground" for some bacteria.
The storage time for any food in the refrigerator should not be too long. It is best to buy it and eat it promptly, because storing it for too long affects the freshness of the food and can easily produce odors. Some fruits, such as bananas and apples, can also spoil if left for too long, and once spoiled, they release a gas that is harmful to the human body.
Do not store too much food in the refrigerator, as this can cause the outer part of the food to be cold while the inner part is warm, leading to spoilage.