Refrigerator Odours...How to Prevent

When it comes to refrigerator odours the best defense is an offence. By that I mean, avoid anything that would allow obnoxious odours getting a foothold in the refrigerator in the first place. But the reality is that a bad smell can easily occur during the refrigerators life due to the volume of food stuffs we consume. To keep the possibility of smells to a minimum try using the following simple tactics: 1. Keep all foods covered. It is a simple idea that really does work. Any food placed into the refrigerators cool, humid environment will immediately begin to oxidize. Place a steel bar into the refrigerator and it will oxidize (rust) - well, your food will undergo the same process. But, as foods age they also give off odours. Keeping food covered slows oxidation, which in turn will slow the creation of odours. 2. Avoid spills. This may seem like a silly suggestion - except if you have children. One trick is to keep a separate kids container on a lower shelf. In it provide them with foods they are constantly craving. Apples, oranges, precut vegetables, and juice boxes can all be kept here. This keeps the kids spills to a minimum - adults are on their own. 3. Separate fruits and vegetables. The acidity of one can affect the other. Once home from the grocery store separate them and store in their own bags. Zip top bags work well for this purpose. If bagged they can be placed into the same crisper drawer. If simply dumped together into the crisper they can interact, causing some rather unusual smells. 4. Watch out for fruits. They in particular are different than most other foods. Many of them will actually deteriorate faster when inside a cool environment. Apples are a good example. When removed from the sealed bag and put into the refrigerator, they leave their dormant state and begin to literally "breathe". Taking on more air leads to accelerated decay. 5. Beware the preserves. Odours can occur when an old container (Aunt Martha's Christmas jam?) is pushed to the back of the refrigerator and forgotten. Being semi-sealed they can produce slow, almost imperceptible spills and gasses. If you have a really obnoxious smell that comes and goes, look for preserved pickles or fruits. Preserved jams on the other hand will tend to bubble out, producing sticky spills. 6. Throw away leaking containers. Milk bags in particular are renowned for leaking. Simply pouring contents into a sealed container before placing into refrigerator will eliminate this problem. If leak occurs clean the entire shelf immediately. Even a few drops of milk or cream can cause horrible odours if left long enough to go sour. 7. Beware the stinky cheese. Store within its own sealed container rather than open on the dairy shelf. It's a live food. It continues to age because of bacterial content. As it ages its characteristics can change. While processed cheeses harden with age, natural cheeses can start to weep. Weeping will produce ever-increasing amounts of gas. Some cheeses can really start to stink. Anyone who has ever had cheese go bad will never forget the smell. 8. Be aware of packaging. Pre-packaged foods can become odour absorbers. Cardboard containers can easily pick up and then hold any odours that are circulating inside the refrigerator. Also the cartons can break down with age, slowly spilling their contents. Ever found an old cardboard carton of molasses at the back of the refrigerator. Bet you it's been there since you last made baked beans. Ten years ago? Keeping your refrigerator interior clean and smelling fresh requires constant vigilance. The major advice we offer our clients about preventing odours is -- don't let them get started in the first place. Although a simplistic answer, it's truthful. A bad smell is a hundred times easier to prevent than to treat.