Never Refrigerate These 5 Foods; Here’s Why It Makes Them Worse

Refrigerators

are one of the best inventions that help keep food fresh for a longer time. However, not all of them can reap its benefits, as experts say certain items get spoiled and can be harmful to your health. Experts believe that a few everyday foods become toxic and harmful or even lose their nutrients when refrigerated. Also, cold air creates moisture, which supports the growth of bacteria, leading to digestive issues and even food poisoning. A few of the daily foods that you must not refrigerate are:

Tomatoes

Even though everyone does it, refrigerating tomatoes affects their taste, texture, and flavour. And not only that, the cold temperature of the refrigerator inhibits the enzymes responsible for ripening, leading to a mealy consistency and muted taste. So, it is best to store tomatoes at room temperature, away from direct sunlight. If they are not fully ripe, let them sit out until they reach the desired ripeness before consuming.

Bread

Unless you prefer stale, dried-out slices on your favourite sandwich, stash loaves of bread in the pantry. Doctors say the cold and moist environment of a fridge drastically speeds up starch retrogradation or crystallization, which makes the bread stale, hard, dry, and chewy much faster than leaving it at room temperature. Cold air also ruins its flavour by absorbing other fridge odours. While it might seem to stop mold, it ruins texture; freezing is a much better option for long-term storage to keep it fresh.

Ginger

Ginger does not need to be refrigerated ginger because the cold, humid fridge environment can make it soft, moldy, or slimy faster than storing it in a cool, dry pantry, especially if it's unwashed; moisture encourages rot, but you can refrigerate it long-term if wrapped tightly in a paper towel and sealed in an airtight container to absorb moisture and prevent spoilage. The key is managing moisture, as wet or unwashed ginger in the humid fridge turns bad quickly, but properly prepped ginger can last months.

Cooked rice

Rice should never be put in the fridge because of Bacillus cereus - a bacterium which has spores that survive cooking and can produce toxins in leftover rice left at room temperature, causing food poisoning and conditions like vomiting and diarrhoea. The key isn't refrigerating, but how you store it - cool it quickly within two hours, refrigerate promptly within three days, and reheat thoroughly to kill the bacteria.

Potatoes

Potatoes should never be refrigerated raw potatoes because cold temperatures turn their starches into sugars, affecting taste, texture, and colour - darkening when cooked. According to experts, the sugar conversion increases acrylamide formation during high-heat cooking - a potential health concern. Doctors advise best to store them in a cool, dark, dry place like a pantry.