10 Things that Often Rot in the Refrigerator

We’ve all had the unpleasant experience of finding something rotten in the refrigerator. Things get shoved to the back, forgotten in a drawer or put into an unmarked container and left unchecked for too long. It all depends on personal eating habits, but there are several things that often rot in the refrigerator before they get used up.

1. Lettuce – One thing that never seems to last very long in the refrigerator is lettuce. I’ll get one or two nice salads and the rest gets all brown and icky. I hate the tasteless stuff you get from the store anyway and I prefer to grow it myself.
2. Onions – Another vegetable that doesn’t keep well in the fridge is onions. It’s actually better to keep whole onions in a warm dry place until they’re cut. Never leave a cut onion uncovered in the refrigerator because it will absorb bacteria and rot quicker.
3. Leftovers – The worst culprit for rotting in the refrigerator is leftovers, especially ones in a generic unmarked container. A good rule of thumb is, if you can’t figure out what it is throw it out before it starts looking like a laboratory experiment.
4. Milk – Some people always sniff the milk before pouring it and that’s a good idea. There’s nothing worse than rotten, chunky milk on your cereal, and for heavens sake, don’t drink from the carton.
5. Fruit – Who hasn’t bought a bag of fresh fruit and had half of it rot before they could eat it all. This is true of any fresh produce, so buyer beware. Don’t get more than you can consume in a few days and always check for freshness first.
6. Cottage cheese – There’s nothing less appetizing than opening a container of cottage cheese and finding a layer of green mold on the top. It’s not actually the cheese curds that go bad, but the sweet cream they add to make it creamier.
7. Cheese – I love a nice chunk of extra sharp cheddar cheese, but this is something else that doesn’t last long in the fridge. Any cheese that is left unattended in the refrigerator too long will start to grow green mold, especially if it’s not wrapped tightly and is exposed to air.
8. Meat – Fresh meat will get rotten very quickly in the fridge. Processed meat will keep a little longer, but not much. I don’t know of any smell worse than rotting meat. Yuck!
9. Jelly and jam – Unless you use jelly or jam every day, that’s another thing that tends to get moldy before you use it up. It’s great on toast for a few times and then the jar gets pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten.
10. Open cans – How many times have you opened a can of something, used part of it in a recipe and put the rest in the refrigerator to use later? The best of intentions never seem to happen and soon you have a partially used can of mold.

I’ve heard it said that we throw out more food than we actually consume and that’s a shame. We should all be more diligent about using the food in our refrigerators before it goes bad. Make sure you clean out your fridge often and throw out anything rotten right away. The bacteria from rotting food will quickly contaminate other items in your refrigerator. Check freshness dates when you purchase food and don’t buy more than you can use quickly. If your fridge smells bad when you open the door, chances are there’s something getting rotten.

Taken From Vitamins and Minerals