Where do YOU keep your milk? Scientists reveal the correct place to store it in the fridge – and it’s NOT in the door
- An expert warns milk is one of many products we’re storing in the wrong place
- Storing milk deeper inside the a fridge near the back can extend its shelf life
- Some Brits may also have their fridge set at the wrong temperature
Storing milk in the fridge door may seem like a no-brainer, with a perfectly-sized ledge that seems almost designed for milk cartons.
But experts warn that we’re actually slashing the shelf life of milk by keeping it in the fridge door – and it instead belongs deeper inside where the temperature is colder.
Confusion about where to store milk has been rife on Twitter this week after farmer Ceri Cryer urged BBC Breakfast viewers not to keep it in the fridge door.
‘You’ve got to make sure that when you’re taking it home after purchasing it that you’re keeping it cold, putting it with other cold produce,’ she told the show.
Storing milk in the fridge door can slash its shelf life, as this is the warmest spot
‘You need to put it in the main part of the fridge at the back and not in the front of the fridge, in the door of the fridge, which is the warmest part of the fridge.’
But some viewers were skeptical, pointing out that milk bottles are often too big to store standing up on a fridge shelf and they’re likely to leak if laid down.
Scientists have since backed Ms Cryer’s view, adding that cheese, yoghurts and other dairy products should also be kept deeper inside the fridge.
Dr Christian Reynolds from City, University of London, told MailOnline: ‘Milk is a perishable commodity so where you store it and the temperature you store it at in the fridge affects its shelf life.
‘It’s not just milk either – think about cheese, meat and all dairy products. Storing it the right way gets you better bang for your buck.’
Around 490million pints of milk are tipped down the sink every year, according to the Sustainable Food Trust.
While milk can expire sooner than it should, this level of waste is also driven by consumers throwing it out too soon.
Storing milk at the bottom of a fridge near the back can extend its shelf life by two days
Twitter has been bombarded with confusion over the correct way to store milk product
This is because households often rely on the use-by date to tell them when milk is no longer safe to consume, rather than sniffing it or having a small taste to check.
This week M&S joined many supermarkets in removing use-by labels in the belief that an old fashioned sniff test is a better way to judge the safety of food.
The change was driven by research projects, such as Dr Reynolds’, that seek to help Brits make better use of their food.
‘We have this thing called the Household Simulation Model that looks at dates over five to six years, looking at how people use milk,’ he said.
‘Somewhere between 30 to 60 per cent don’t engage, they just look at the milk and throw it out. They often don’t see the difference between “use-by” and “best before” dates.’
He also advises that consumers check their fridge is set between 0-5°C (32-41°F) to extend the life of products as much as possible.
‘If you have your fridge below 5°C (41°F), you can extend [milk’s] shelf life by one to days.
‘You can freeze cheese and milk to make it last longer too. It’s not just storing it in the right place, but being canny.’
