The Story of Leftovers: How Long Was That In My Fridge?
Do you have biology experiments going on in the back of your refrigerator? You open a jar of who knows-what, because you don’t remember what it was, and you find an amazing assortment of colors and textures that simply don’t fall under what we would normally call food anymore – and could possibly send you on a one-way-trip to the barf-eteria or emergency room if you did eat it. But, believe it or not, most foods that are just getting old and have started to turn bad due to "spoilage bacteria" won’t make you sick, they just make the food taste bad.
It happens to everyone. Food that gets too old to eat gets tossed. But what if it still looks good to eat? It could be goulash from last week. Or chili? But what day did you put it in the fridge? Two, three days ago…maybe more?
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says "A general rule of thumb for refrigerator storage for cooked leftovers is 4 days."
We found that the best way to know when your food was placed in the refrigerator is to label it. And you can do this very inexpensively. The next time you go to the hardware store (some grocery or dollar stores too) grab a roll of masking tape, the tape that is used to help painters avoid splashing paint on trim and edges, and a sharp point magic marker. If you have these already, great! This tape comes off of all food storage containers without leaving any residue. The next time you’re about to place some food in the fridge, leftovers or otherwise – your choice, tear off enough tape to label the item by name and date or just the date. Another option is to write an expiration date for your leftovers of 3-5 days out from when you placed in the fridge. Just be consistent whether you are placing a new date or expiration date so you don’t confuse yourself.
You’ll never be wondering how long the food was in your refrigerator again!
Quick Tip: Masking tape doesn’t stick well to cold surfaces. Make sure you label the container before you put it in the fridge!
If you want to learn more about refrigerator safety visit The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web site.
Dinner’s On The Table Personal Chef Service serves the Greater Mid-Hudson Valley (Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia Counties) and Eastern Connecticut.