The office fridge is usually ignored and left for the office fridge fairy to sort it out. Below we give 5 top tips to maintaining a clean office fridge, which smells and looks like we’d all want.

1) Organise the Office Fridge

Organising the contents of the office fridge can help keep it clean and fresh. Method might include allocating certain fridge space to each department, using Tupperware to seal food and rotating stock. Ensuring communal milk is used in date order is a great way of making sure it is used up before it is past its best.
Checking the fridge contents every week and throwing out the products that are off will keep it smelling fresh every time the door is opened.

2) Set Up a Cleaning Rota for the Office Fridge

You have two options. You could draw up a rota for each member of staff to clean the office fridge on rotation. Alternatively, ask your cleaner to clean the fridge once or twice a week, e.g. on a Friday. You may wish to tell everyone to put any food they want to keep on one shelf on a specific day, otherwise it will be thrown out.
Maintaining a good level of hygiene in the office fridge shouldn’t be left to just one person. If everyone uses it, then everyone should keep an eye out for spills on the shelves or mouldy food.

3) Don’t Fiddle with the Office Fridge Temperature

The ideal fridge temperature should be 4°C – 5°C. Anything higher than 5°C can be dangerous. Bacteria growth can double over a period of 20 minutes in warmer temperatures. This could lead to a lot of illness in the office! Equally making it too cold could make food hard or frost up the back of the fridge.

4) Freshen your Office Fridge with a Natural Product

Believe it or not, a lemon can freshen your fridge. Just cut the lemon in half and place them face up in the door and central shelf. This absorbs foul odours and leaves your fridge smelling fresh. Alternatively, if you have a communal office fruit bowl, orange peel can be used in place of a lemon. Simply bruise the skin and lay it on paper towel on a plate in the fridge.

Halve a lemon to freshen your office fridge

5) Watch Out For Mouldy or Out of Date Produce in the Office Fridge

“Use By” dates indicate when a product should be consumed by. Not only does out of date food risk health, it also is likely to start smelling soon. Don’t be too hasty though, as a “Best Before” dates indicate when a product is going past best, not ‘off’. Mouldy food is a regular problem in offices, so if you see something mouldy, tackle it immediately.
Perhaps install a policy that if something is a week past its use by date then anyone can throw it away.