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Proper Food Storage Tips to Prevent Pests

pantry

What are the proper ways to store your food in order to prevent pests?

  1. Inspect all stored food items
  2. Store food in the refrigerator
  3. Don’t leave out food on the table
  4. Make use of airtight containers

 

Pests are some of the most annoying creatures on earth. They can be a pain to deal with, particularly in the kitchen, if you’re not practicing the proper food storage tips to keep them out of your food items. Not only will these pests grow in number if they’re left unmitigated, but they could also render most of your food items inedible.

You might find yourself having to deal with cockroaches, mice, and ants in your house’s kitchen, or dining area. In this kind of situation, the tendency is for you to apply some form of insecticide or pesticide in order to get rid of the pests and prevent them from further infesting this part of your house. However, some pest control products might seep into the food items in your kitchen and pantry.

Dealing with pests, in general, requires you to adopt preventive maintenance practices in order to prevent their spread. Continue reading to find out more about the most effective food storage tips you can follow to prevent the spread of common household pests.

 

Inspect all stored food items

woman checking pantry

Inspecting all of your stored food items is a simple way for you to determine the presence of pests in your kitchen, and to subsequently get rid of them. There is a tendency for many people to just leave their food products sitting on shelves for too long, without checking whether or not they’ve already been infested. Checking up on these items is a preventative act which would help in reducing the spread of pests.

This practice is especially useful if you keep a pantry in the kitchen where most dried and simple liquid food products are stored. When doing the groceries, there is a tendency for other items to take up space and leave the older food products at the back of your pantry. When it comes to inspection, make sure you haven’t left unsealed items sitting out for too long. They could be breeding grounds for mice, cockroaches, as well as other kinds of pests. Use a simple and durable clip to reseal these open items and prevent pests from foraging on them.

 

Store food in the refrigerator

Another simple thing you can do to keep pests out of your kitchen or dining area is to store many of your food items in the refrigerator. Apart from increasing the longevity of your food, this also helps in reducing the presence of pests like flies, mice, cockroaches, rats, and the like.

For example, if you’ve recently bought dry goods such as nuts and oatmeal, you might want to keep them inside the fridge. Coupled with unhygienic kitchen practices, rats could soon find their way into the kitchen. Meanwhile, if you’ve bought meat products like beef, pork, or seafood, ensure they don’t stay out long in the open as they could eventually attract the presence of flies.

When it comes to storing food items in the refrigerator, make sure the temperature is at an optimal level in order to help them last for a longer period of time.

 

Don’t leave out food on the table

dirty kitchen table

Many people may be guilty of leaving out food on the table, especially after they’ve just finished with their meals. Washing the dishes right after eating can be a cumbersome task, particularly when you find yourself dealing with a big load of dishes.

A good way to keep out pests in your dining area, for example, is to throw out leftover food items such as bones, food wrappers, disposable boxes, and the like. When these items are left out for too long overnight, to say the least, they might end up attracting pesky creatures like mice and ants.

When you have leftover food which can still be consumed, store them instead in your pantry, or refrigerator as mentioned before. You should always make sure you’re following the proper garbage disposal methods when it comes to throwing out food.

 

Make use of airtight containers

Finally, another effective food storage tip is for you to use airtight containers. This practice will not only keep your food fresh and increase their shelf life, but this also prevents animals like mice and ants from feeding on your food.

You may want to try using clear containers in order to help you identify the kitchen item, or food which is stored in them. You can employ this practice when it comes to the storage of biscuits, or cereals. The original plastic packaging won’t be impervious to mice or ants chewing their way into them, so storing them in airtight containers helps you avoid this kind of problem from occurring and from further worsening.

 

Key Takeaway

Keeping pests out of your home can be difficult, especially if you don’t know the first thing about pest control. Needless to say, you can find most of these pesky creatures in your kitchen area. As such, becoming knowledgeable about food storage tips is a great way for you to prevent their spread and growth in the kitchen.

Keeping pests out of the kitchen and dining area doesn’t really require complicated practices. There is no single, universal way of keeping your pests out of this area, and so the best practice is to always adopt comprehensive and preventive practices. Use the tips above in combination with one another for maximum effect.

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Food Storage Tips to Protect Your Leftovers

caveman_invented_leftovers_378045

With the amount of food we tend to serve regularly in the average Philippine household, leftovers are inevitable. Everything’s so yummy that there are times when we overestimate what our stomachs can accommodate. Of course, we don’t throw away leftovers; we store them away for the next day. We also have the option to give them away as alms or our pets’ food, but we must remember never ever to pests.

See, giving pests food only makes them come to you more. They’ll not only be outside your doorstep when you start giving them food, they’ll be inside your very home: under the floors, inside the walls, and up the ceiling. You don’t want that, it’s an invasion! And you can’t have that, they’ll be difficult to shoo away. You’ll have to call pest control in the Philippines just to give them the idea that they’re not invited in your walls.

Problematic, isn’t it? That’s why you’ll have to learn how to store your leftovers properly, if you’re going for saving on food. Here may be your ways to go:

Invest on clean and sealable plastic containers

When you don’t have plastic containers dedicated to storing your leftovers, your next option is to leave them in their bowls or plates. While this option is alright, it may not be the best when it comes to food storage.

See, leaving them in their bowls or plates, even though covered with plates, does not properly seal the container. And this calls for contamination. Now what’s worse about this is completely leaving your leftovers on the table, again, even if covered with a plate or a net. This is exactly the invitation that your pests are waiting for, as well as spoilage. So refrigerate the food, it is sure to last longer.

Now inside your ref, it’s your leftovers may spill if not placed in sealable containers. Plus, let’s face it, their plate covers tend to move around, so your leftovers may be left open and exposed inside your ref and you don’t know it. The next day, when you’re ready to eat, your leftover’s sure to smell like your ref and it may be unappetizing to eat now, which pretty much defeats the purpose, if you think about it.

Sealable plastic containers are your best bet if you want to organize the contents of your ref, and if you want to have ‘fresh’ leftovers the next day.

leftovers fresh

Don’t forget to use serving spoons

Pests are not our only problem when it comes to food and leftovers. Spoilage is one such concern we should keep in our heads. Now although you stretch the life of your leftover while in the ref, it may still spoil if you haven’t taken the precaution of using serving spoons while you were eating. See our saliva is not as clean as we think, and if we double-dip our spoons and forks in our viands as we are eating, we are much likely contaminating the food. If you want to escape early spoilage, be sure to go for the extra spoon, no matter if you’re going to wash an extra spoon.

Regularly check your fridge for old leftovers

Now even though they are kept in the refrigerator for a long time, food gets spoiled, still. They have certain life spans, if you will. That a food has been stored in the fridge for nearly a month makes you think of food poisoning, doesn’t it? Therefore, the longer your food is stored, the more unappetizing it becomes. In the end, you’ll just throw it away, which was what you avoided doing in the first place, correct?

That just means that it is best do not keep on just storing leftovers, you have to eat them, too. They’re still food; you only have to heat them up. This helps save you time in preparing meals, plus the money to dine out or buy groceries, and you didn’t throw away precious food. You’re already money-wise, you’re even considerate.

When it comes to food, you’re safest when you’re knowing. And when you know how to deal with not just your freshly cooked meal, but also your leftovers, you can best take care of yourself and avoid the little unwanted critters.