Dubai: Most people refrigerate milk and eggs the wrong way, food safety officials said in Dubai, calling for a change in the traditional design of fridges to help people store food correctly.
Milk and eggs are generally stored in compartments on the fridge door, but this means that these highly-perishable food items are exposed to warm air every time the door is opened, experts said during the awareness sessions held by Dubai Municipality as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council Food Safety Week.
Shugufta M. Zubair, senior food safety awareness support officer at the Food Safety Department, told Gulf News that the awareness sessions are aimed at busting myths and misconceptions related to food safety and nutrition.
“Everybody uses a refrigerator, but in a wrong way. We want to correct this and clear misconceptions. For example, refrigerating milk and eggs on the fridge door is not fine.”
Milk and eggs stored in the door racks tend to get spoiled faster, she said.
“I know people will say that is how refrigerators are designed. That is why we would like to urge manufacturers to change the traditional design of the fridges.”
She said the right place to store eggs and milk is on the lower floor of the main compartment of the fridge, which has consistent cold temperature.
“If the food is safe, your health is safe. As our theme this week is ‘Together for Food Safety,’ we are trying to get every stakeholder to share the responsibility of food safety. We hope the industry will also listen and it will be nice if this is tackled by the manufacturers. We would like them to cooperate with us,” Zubair said.
Food safety professionals said they would also like to see the chiller lowered from the upper shelf to avoid possible cross contamination.
“Many people keep marinated meat in the chiller. There is a chance of raw meat juice dripping on to other food items. When you take out the tray, there can be some dripping and it can cause contamination. So, I think chillers should also have to be modified,” said Raseena Pazhanthotta, food safety manager with Abela and Co.
“Some fridges display the temperature. But many don’t. So, that change is also welcome to help people understand the actual temperature at which food is kept and if they need to make any adjustements,” said Pazhanthotta, who held a kitchen food safety exhibition alongside the sessions.
Another speaker, Dr Ali Danesh Manesh, managing director of Pulseberry Health Consulting, felt there should be new regulations to set new standards for fridge designs.
“It is not easy to change the habit of people and the design of the fridges. So, my advice is to focus on the expiry date and make sure you have a policy of first in, first out. Putting unwashed vegetables, especially with soil, in the fridge is also a wrong practice.”
Eggs and milk should be stored in the main compartment, not on the door.
Broken eggs should not be stored in the fridge.
Cooked and ready-to-eat food should be kept in the upper shelves.
Raw food should be kept in the lower shelves.
Ready-to-eat products like ice cream should be kept in the top shelf of the freezer while raw food should go into the bottom shelf.
Marinated raw food should be safely packed to avoid dripping and cross contamination.
Vegetables, especially salad vegetables, should be properly washed before refrigerating.
