Welcome to Food Safety! The Fridge ABCS Your fridge temperature should be set below 4.5 °C /40 °F . Keep it cool is the golden rule, as a higher temperature will provide conditions for growth of bacteria ( 细菌 ). To keep law and order in the fridge, make sure that raw meat, seafood, and fish are stored on the lowest shelf, carefully sealed in packaging or containers to avoid cross contamination ( 污染物 ) from leaking juices. Paying attention to date-labels is key to avoid food poisoning, but also a great opportunity to save a few bucks! Always comply with the "use-by" dates, as ignoring these could put you at health risk. "Best before" dates, on the other hand, are more of a guideline from the manufacturer as to when the product will decrease in quality in regards to taste. Eating food past its best before" date will not compromise ( 危害 ) your gut health. However, using discretion ( i#'i ) is advised! Cooking Code of Conduct Stick to the golden rule: Always wash your hands, pots, and pans! Bad kitchen hygiene will pave the way for cross contamination, which is the leading cause of food poisoning. Therefore, make sure that your hands are clean along with all working surfaces and utensils before you start juggling ( 摆弄 ) the pans. Also, the same procedure is required before and after handling high-risk foods, such as raw meat, eggs, and leafy greens. Store, Reheat, Ready to Eat Nothing beats the joy of coming home after a long day of work to find leftovers in the fridge. However, if stored or reheated improperly, the shortcut to a quick dinner can result in an agonizing ( 痛苦难忍的 ) stomach ache, or at worst a bad case of food poisoning. As a rule of thumb ( 经验法则 ), refrigerate your leftovers within 90 min. of cooking, and store them in sealed containers for up to two days in the fridge. If you wish to store your food longer than the two- day time- span, it's a job for the freezer, where your leftovers can hibernate ( 休眠 ) until they're needed for duty for approx.1~2 months, in order not to compromise favor. If you're reheating leftovers from the freezer, make sure to consume them within 24 hours. Also, do not reheat leftovers twice, as repeating the process of reheating and cooling will heighten the risk of bacteria growth. You should always make sure that your leftovers are heated evenly throughout and reach a core temperature above 75 °C /170°F to kill any bacteria.