The results of a study conducted by Bournemouth University have outlined the potential food safety risks of students’ shared fridges.
Over a two-year period, the investigation found that 16% of shared fridges contained rotten foods and 88% of them saw cross-contamination between foods. Students were more likely to suffer from food poisoning due to their fridges being over-crowded and poorly organized.
83% of those questioned lived in communal households where each individual has allocated their own fridge shelf space. Yet in many instances this practice was shown to encourage students to over-pack their shelves with food, which caused difficulties when keeping track of best before dates.