It’s important to take care how you store food, to make sure it’s safe to eat.

Keeping food in the fridge

Some foods need to be kept in the fridge to help stop bacteria from growing on them, such as foods with a 'use by' date, cooked foods and ready-to-eat foods such as desserts.

To help stop bacteria from growing, remember:
• When you’re preparing food, keep it out of the fridge for the shortest time possible.
• If you have made a dish and you’re not going to eat it straight away, keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it.
• When the label says 'keep refrigerated', make sure you do keep the food in the fridge.
• If you’re having a buffet, leave the food in the fridge until people are ready to eat. Generally, you shouldn’t leave food out of the fridge for more than two hours.
• Cool leftovers as quickly as possible (ideally within one to two hours) and then store them in the fridge. Eat any leftovers within two days.

General tips

Many foods don’t need to be kept in the fridge to keep them safe to eat, for example dry foods such as rice, pasta and flour, many types of drinks, tinned foods, and unopened jars. But it’s still important to take care how you store these foods.

Here are some tips:

Try to keep foods in sealed bags or containers. This helps to keep them fresh and stops anything falling into the food by accident. Don’t store food or drinks near cleaning products or other chemicals. Don’t use old food containers to store household chemicals, and don’t store food in containers that have been used for other purposes. Don’t store food on the floor, because this can encourage mice, ants and other pests. Keep the storage area dry and not too warm. Remember that some foods may need to be kept in the fridge once they are opened – follow any storage instructions on the label.

Storing meat

It’s especially important to store meat safely to stop bacteria from spreading and avoid food poisoning. Store raw meat/poultry in clean sealed containers on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so it can’t touch or drip onto other food. Follow any storage instructions on the label and don’t eat meat after its ‘use by’ date. When you have cooked meat and you’re not going to eat it straight away, cool it as quickly as possible and then put it in the fridge or freezer. Remember to keep cooked meat separate from raw meat.

Freezing meat

It's OK to freeze raw meat providing you do the following things: freeze it before the ‘use by’ date follow any freezing or thawing instructions on the label defrost it in a microwave if you intend to cook it as soon as it’s defrosted, otherwise thaw it in the fridge so that it doesn’t get too warm try to use the meat within two days of defrosting – it will go off in the same way as fresh meat cook food until it’s piping hot all the way through When meat thaws, lots of liquid can come out of it. This liquid will spread bacteria to any food, plates or surfaces that it touches. Keep the meat in a sealed container at the bottom of the fridge, so that it can’t touch or drip onto other foods.

Always thoroughly clean plates, utensils, surfaces and hands after they have touched raw or thawing meat, to stop bacteria from spreading.

If you defrost raw meat and then cook it thoroughly, you can freeze it again, but remember never reheat foods more than once.

Tin cans

When you have opened a can of food and you’re not using all the food straight away, empty the food into a bowl, or other container, and put it in the fridge.

Don’t store food in an opened tin can, or re-use empty cans to cook or store food. This is because when a can has been opened and the food is open to the air, the tin may transfer more quickly to the can’s contents.

This advice doesn’t apply to foods sold in cans with resealable lids, such as golden syrup and cocoa.

Cling film and kitchen foil

Cling film

Cling film is useful for protecting food but, like many things, it needs to be used correctly.

Not every type of cling film is suitable for using with all foods. Check the description on the packaging to see what foods it can be used with.

There are three main points to remember when using cling film: Don’t use cling film if it could melt into the food, such as in the oven or on pots and pans on the hob. You can use cling film in the microwave, but make sure the cling film doesn’t touch the food. Only let cling film touch high-fat foods when the packaging says the cling film is suitable for this. High-fat foods include some types of cheese, raw meats with a layer of fat, fried meats, pies and pastries, and cakes with butter icing or chocolate coatings.

Kitchen foil

Kitchen foil, which is made from aluminium, can be useful for wrapping and covering foods. But it’s best not to use foil or containers made from aluminium to store foods that are highly acidic, such as:
tomatoes rhubarb cabbage many soft fruits. This is because aluminium can affect the taste of these sorts of food, especially if they are stored in aluminium containers for a long time.