Fruit and Veg Freshness

Montysmam

Anyone else finding that fruit and veg bought at the supermarket is going off very quickly once home? Despite buying fresh food with extended dates, we have found some food has turned very quickly, before the best before date, particularly berries and broccoli. I was wondering if it's because there is a shortage of pickers, so food isn't being picked in its prime?

Farway

The heat may have also something to do with it

Bacman

Keep your fruit and veg in the fridge (apart from onions and bananas).

od244051

I have noticed this when its warm weather. My friend works for a supermarket and most of the produce, bar:
. Berries, prepared salad, prepared fruit and veg - which are in the fresh chiller
. Potatoes, onions (not spring) and bananas in the warehouse.
The rest in a chiller which isn't as cold as one for milk, cheese, ready meals.
The warm weather heats up the warehouse.

cymruchris

Have you checked the operating temperature of your fridge? As the weather gets warmer, some older fridges begin to struggle, especially if the freezer section hasn't been defrosted in a while. Our fridge at home began recording temperatures of 12 degrees recently!! Freezer didn't look untowardly frozen up - took the drawers out - removed the back panel trim, and was frozen solid underneath (yes - it was a frost free freezer) - on clearing out the ice - putting it all back together - the fridge is happily pootling along at 2 degrees. It's just something to have a quick look at in case you hadn't thought about it.

andygb

cymruchris said:

Have you checked the operating temperature of your fridge? As the weather gets warmer, some older fridges begin to struggle, especially if the freezer section hasn't been defrosted in a while. Our fridge at home began recording temperatures of 12 degrees recently!! Freezer didn't look untowardly frozen up - took the drawers out - removed the back panel trim, and was frozen solid underneath (yes - it was a frost free freezer) - on clearing out the ice - putting it all back together - the fridge is happily pootling along at 2 degrees. It's just something to have a quick look at in case you hadn't thought about it.

Have you checked the condition of the door seals, because this happened to our last FF and we had to replace it because seals were not available for our model.

cymruchris

andygb said:

cymruchris said:

Have you checked the operating temperature of your fridge? As the weather gets warmer, some older fridges begin to struggle, especially if the freezer section hasn't been defrosted in a while. Our fridge at home began recording temperatures of 12 degrees recently!! Freezer didn't look untowardly frozen up - took the drawers out - removed the back panel trim, and was frozen solid underneath (yes - it was a frost free freezer) - on clearing out the ice - putting it all back together - the fridge is happily pootling along at 2 degrees. It's just something to have a quick look at in case you hadn't thought about it.

Have you checked the condition of the door seals, because this happened to our last FF and we had to replace it because seals were not available for our model.

Not yet no - since I did the ice removal about 4 weeks ago - it's been perfect. The FF is about 8 years old, so there's a chance the seals are on the way out, but am monitoring the temperatures each day, and they've been absolutely steady so far. If they do begin to creep up again, I'll look at the seals as the next port of call!

KxMx

I've turned mine up from 5/7 to 6/7 recently and it's been doing much better. 

Hasn't been shutting properly for a while but inside temperature fine and no change in margarine etc, looked at it many times but nothing visibly wrong. A foot pressed into the bottom corner after closing is doing the trick and it's more effort now to open.

Montysmam

Fridge temperature and seals are all good, it's self defrosting and clean throughout, it is only certain items that are affected, and not consistently either! We grow our own raspberries, for example, and these are lasting for days in the fridge, unlike the ones we bought from the supermarket a couple of weeks ago (before ours were ready) which lasted 24hrs!

KxMx

I've occasionally had raspberries last longer than 24 hours in the fridge, but not often. If they go a bit mouldy then I just pick those bits off and eat the rest of the berry. If a couple are very mouldy they go in the compost. 

You're picking and placing into fridge quickly presumably. 

Raspberries picked on a farm won't be placed into a cold chain immediately and they are then out of that while you are shopping until you get home. So by the time you get them they are probably a few days off the plant. 

pumpkin89

KxMx said:

I've occasionally had raspberries last longer than 24 hours in the fridge, but not often. If they go a bit mouldy then I just pick those bits off and eat the rest of the berry. If a couple are very mouldy they go in the compost. 

I'm surprised by that.  I buy raspberries every week and they normally last the full 7 days, bar the odd couple that go mouldy.  In my experience it's less about the time since picking and more about bruising - if anything heavy gets placed on top of the pack, it gets tipped on its side etc. then they're far more likely to go off.