If you store your milk in the fridge door, we hate to break it to you but you’ve been doing it all wrong.
A new guide to storing food correctly has revealed that, actually, milk belongs on the middle shelf of the fridge along with its dairy counterparts: yoghurt, cheese and butter.
Who knew?
According to Good Housekeeping’s fridge guide, the door should be stocked with foods that have natural preservatives, such as condiments, jams and juice. This is because it’s the warmest area of the fridge and is prone to temperature fluctuations, so storing your milk there is likely to make it go off quicker.
The upper shelves of the fridge should be home to foods that don’t need cooking, such as deli meats and leftovers.
Meanwhile your milk cartons should be stored on the lower and middle shelves, along with other dairy products.
The bottom shelf is where raw meat and fish should be kept. This is because it’s the coolest part of the fridge, which helps the meat stay fresh.
Additionally, placing meat products at the bottom prevents juices from spilling out onto other foods and contaminating them.
Meanwhile the bottom drawers should be stocked with vegetables, salad items, herbs and fruit.
Good Housekeeping advises people to set their fridge temperature to between 1°C and 4°C, and adds that you should never put hot food into the fridge, as it causes the overall temperature to rise and can lead to food poisoning.
For those who keep tomatoes and garlic in the fridge, we have some equally life-changing news.
According to Buzz60, if you keep tomatoes in the fridge they begin to lose flavour. Meanwhile you should avoid storing onions in there, as the odour can affect the flavour of other foods nearby.
Honey, bread, garlic, cake, melon and coffee should also be stored outside of the fridge.
What’s quite possibly the most surprising, though, is avocado, which should be stored in an open brown paper bag.