Refrigerators are a part of every home around the world. It is a common practice in every household to bring groceries from the supermarket and store it in refrigerators. It is believed that refrigerators keep the food fresh and infection free. The belief that refrigerators are hygienic needs to given a second thought before you store food in the refrigerator next time.
A refrigerator is rarely cleaned in numerous households for month ends. It is the practice of believing that refrigerators are sterile palaces where pathogens can not survive which is leading to numerous cases of diseases in people. Even if the food stored in the refrigerator looks fresh, it is certainly not infection free because of these pathogens that spread on perishable food items. Cooked mean items need to be consumed within four days of being stored in the refrigerators. The bacteria responsible for this are the psychrophilic bacteria which use 4 to 6 degrees as the ideal growth temperature unlike other bacteria. Examples of these bacteria are Listeris monocytogenes and Yersinia which infect intestines ad cause diseases. Even though refrigerators operating at -18 degrees centigrade cause complete retardation of growth in bacteria, they still survive these conditions because of the presence of antifreeze. Also spores of bacteria survive these temperatures. And besides food stored for longer time in a sub zero temperature will loose proteins because of them being disintegrated upon de-freezing. This causes the taste of the food to change and also the production of odor. Hence it is recommended that frozen food be consumed as early as possible to avoid these problems.
Also the refrigerator needs to be cleaned completely from inside and out even two weeks to assure health of the family. A good disinfectant is recommended especially in corners where bacteria tend to aggregate.