Keeping an Office Refrigerator Clean

With the first day of spring comes the motivation for annual cleaning. This means making your entire home shipshape, including a kitchen, too. We all know that everything that comes in contact with our food and beverages has to be kept up clean year round. However, some kitchen appliances and supplies in your office might not be as neat and clean as they should be. No wonder, it’s a shared responsibility. Nevertheless, spring is the best time at year to remind your co-workers of how important is to maintain the cleanliness of an office refrigerator. How to succeed in this mission? Here are some helpful tips!

First of all, keep your office refrigerator at a safe temperature, which means 40 F or even lower. Even though bacteria exist everywhere around us- in air, water, soil, the foods and even within our body, this temperature slows their growth. If they are in warm and humid place (at their temperature and moisture optimum), surrounded by a lots of nutrients, bacteria grow rapidly. At some point they can cause illness and even death. Since their favorable temperature is somewhere between 40 and 140 F, although there are some species that can survive lower or higher temperatures, if you keep your refrigerator set at 40 F or below, it will protect the vast majority of foods. If you are not sure in a thermometer you got with a refrigerator, you can buy an additional one at the local hardware store.

Does your office have a schedule for cleaning? Probably, not. However, this doesn’t mean you cannot change it. For example, you can make it a habit to throw out perishable foods left in the fridge once a weak. Check out shelf-lives printed on the packages and throw away cooked leftovers 4 or more days old. Also, it’s better to wipe up spills immediately than to wait until they become a major cleaning job. An open box of baking soda on a fridge shelf will keep this appliance smelling fresh and odorless. When cleaning an office refrigerator, do it as it was the one at your home – without abrasive, solvent cleaning agents and other cleansers which may leave a chemical taste to the food or damage the interior finish of the appliance. Manufacturer’s instructions have to be followed.

Once again, it’s of high importance to share the responsibility. You shouldn’t be the only one concerned about food safety. For that reason, it’s recommended to explain your associates the importance of keeping all food contact surfaces clean in order to prevent foodborne illness.