Can I Still Eat This? A Guide to Keeping Your Fridge Safe

Do you wonder how long groceries stay fresh in your fridge, or how much time you have to eat that leftover pizza from last night? You are not alone! Between use-by dates, sell-by dates and no dates at all, it gets to be pretty confusing to figure out what is still ok to eat and what needs to be tossed.

Start with a clean and organized fridge. To do this, you'll need to understand how long of a shelf life common foods have! Whether you are lost on how much time the ground meat you just picked up from the store has left, or when you need to toss the pasta salad from yesterday's BBQ, we've got tips to help you navigate your fridge!

Often the sell-by and use-by dates labeled on food can be misleading and are not easy to follow. According to a survey by the Food Marketing Institute about 90 percent of Americans throw food away even when they don't need to simply because they don't know the how long food lasts. This can be such a big waste, especially because it is so easy to make delicious meals out of your leftovers! It is also important to know the dangers of certain foods that have passed their expiration dates, because some foods can become harmful to your health after they expire. For example, deli meat that has expired can risk contamination by listeria, which is a bacteria that thrives in cold temperatures. Yuck!

Check out the video above for helpful pointers on how long you can keep certain types of food in your refrigerator.

BONUS: check out the slideshow below for 19 foods that last forever! Then check out the video Cook with Fresh Ingredients While You Can by our friends at Aol!

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