Have you ever wondered why we’re so strict about the “cold chain”? It’s not just about keeping your white wine chilled or your lettuce crisp—it’s about keeping your food safe from uninvited guests.

The “Danger Zone”

Bacteria are a bit like us: they love a comfortable temperature. Between 5°C and 60°C, they enter “party mode” and multiply at an incredible rate. In ideal conditions, some bacteria can double every 20 minutes!

What happens below 5°C?

The cold of your fridge doesn’t necessarily kill bacteria, but it acts like a “slow-motion” button:

• Stops the spread: Micro-organisms become sluggish and stop reproducing rapidly.
• Preserves freshness: The natural chemical reactions that cause vegetables to wilt or fats to go rancid are significantly braked.
• Safety first: It keeps high-risk items, like dairy and cooked meats, safer for much longer.

Chilling food properly helps stop harmful bacteria from growing. 

To keep your food safe:

• store any food with a ‘use by’ date, as well as cooked dishes, salads and dairy products, in your fridge 

• keep chilled food out of the fridge for the shortest time possible during preparation

• cool cooked food quickly at room temperature and place in the fridge within one to two hours

• follow storage instructions on packaging, including the best before and use-by dates 
• The right shelf: Keep raw meat and fish on the bottom shelf (the coldest part) to prevent any drips from contaminating other food.

Check your fridge is cold enough using a fridge thermometer. The dials on fridges don’t always show you the right temperature. Your fridge should be 5°C or below.

Don’t overfill your fridge. Leaving space allows air to circulate and maintains the set temperature.

If your fridge is looking full, take out items that don’t need to be chilled, such as unopened soft drinks or bread. This will make room for the items that do need to be chilled for safety reasons, such as raw, ready-to-eat and cooked food.