«The pasta is still good, I only made it a few days ago» – many believe that a refrigerator is clean and that pasta will keep in it for a week. An expert explains why this is wrong.
It’s completely normal: you don’t throw away cooked pasta that’s left over after you’ve eaten. Instead, you put them in a container and keep them in the fridge. From a purely visual point of view, the cooked noodles seem to keep for quite a long time there, sometimes even a whole week. But at this point you shouldn’t eat them anymore.
What happens to cooked pasta, potatoes and rice in the refrigerator?
Cooked noodles can only be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days, fried and boiled potatoes for a maximum of three and prepared rice for only two days. Because of their strength, they are susceptible to bacteria. Their spores are relatively heat-resistant and cannot be properly killed even during the second warm-up, explains Prof. Dirk Bockmühl, microbiologist at the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, in the magazine «Good Health» (issue 4/2019).
The expert would also only store opened milk, whether fresh milk or UHT milk, for three to four days.
Also interesting: tips to avoid foodborne illness or poisoning
Rule of thumb for reheating cooked pasta
So that the germs do not get into the fridge in the first place, dishes should be put in immediately after they have cooled, but no later than two hours after cooking. Otherwise the probability increases that bacteria have already multiplied rapidly. Rule of thumb for reheating: Food should always be heated to 70 degrees for at least two minutes. This also applies to cooked pasta.
Bockmühl also advises wiping out the refrigerator at least once a month with vinegar water or a normal cleaning agent.
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Danger! Mold can be toxic
Moldy food can form harmful substances. So-called mycotoxins are produced as metabolic products, which can become downright toxic depending on the food. If it happens that you have overlooked mold and bitten into an infested piece of bread, it is not dramatic. In the long term, however, the intake of those harmful substances can impair the immune system and damage the kidneys and liver. And some mold-typical toxins are even said to be carcinogenic.
Incidentally, it is not enough to just cut away the affected area of moldy bread and continue eating the rest, as the fungus has usually already spread – invisibly. The same applies to a jam jar, which should not be eaten after the mold on the surface has been removed. For more information, see the relevant FITBOOK article.
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Conclusion
When cooking, ideally make sure that you don’t use too much. Noodles, rice and potatoes don’t last very long in the fridge either.