Good Question: What Foods Should Go In The Fridge?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A new study finds putting tomatoes in the fridge will make them lose some of their flavor. We often assume keeping food cold helps it last longer, but that's not always the case.
So, what foods should go in the fridge and what shouldn't? Good Question.
Brandy Buro is a nutrition educator at the University of Minnesota extension. She says you should refrigerate all fruits and vegetables, for the most part.
"There are certain fruits and vegetables where texture and flavor are better if you leave them at room temperature," Buro said.
Tomatoes, melons, onions, potatoes and squash should all stay out of the way. Apples, on the other hand, can go either way.
"Bananas in particular will not ripen if you refrigerate them. Same thing for avocadoes, absolutely," Buro said. "Wherever it's stored in the grocery store is usually a good place to store it at home ..."
But what about the stuff we don't grow?
"Most foods that need refrigeration will always say, 'refrigerate after opening,'" Buro said.
Ketchup goes in the fridge, but not soy sauce. Natural peanut butter should be refrigerated too, but not the processed kind. Nuts should be kept cool, and not coffee beans.
"There's a preservative in artificial maple syrup, so that doesn't need to be refrigerated," Buro said.
Real maple syrup, on the other hand, should go in the fridge.
Butter can be kept at room temperature, but it may not last long.
"Maybe even a week, it might start to get rancid, might have a bitter flavor," Buro said.
The US Department of Agriculture recommends always refrigerating eggs. That's not common practice in Europe, because those eggs are prepared differently.
