You’ve probably never given much thought to the fridge in your hotel room, except for maybe that it’s too small. And that the minibar snacks and drinks in it are way too expensive. But other than that, a fridge is just a fridge, right? Well, no. It turns out that some fridges are not as chill about food safety as they should be.

Are hotel room fridges safe for food?

Many hotel room fridges are simply there to keep drinks chilled. This means they’re not cold enough to store food safely. According to the Food Safety Information Council, a fridge should be at or below 5°C (ideally around 4°C to 5°C) as this will slow down the growth of bacteria that can cause food-borne illness. But hotel room fridges can often be above 5°C, which is within the ‘danger zone’ – when food is within 5° and 60°C, bacteria can multiply rapidly, greatly increasing the risk of causing food poisoning. If food has been stored within these temperatures for four hours or more, it should be thrown away. 

Hotel room fridges are also designed to be quiet, so they don’t disrupt your sleep. This means they’re not very powerful. And if your room’s power supply is connected to a keycard entry, the fridge may not even always be on. Plus, the smaller the fridge, the less room there is for cold air to circulate, so when you open the fridge door, it warms up quickly, and then takes a lot longer to cool down again. 

Credit: Getty Images

Related story: Are you washing your reusable shopping bags? Me either. It’s time to fix that

What is safe to store in a hotel room fridge?

It’s still safe to store low-risk items in your hotel room fridge. These include:

• Bottled drinks
• Whole fruits (such as apples or oranges)
• Hard cheeses
• Shelf-stable snacks (such as chocolate)

What isn’t safe to store in a hotel room fridge?

You should never store perishable items, or items that must be stored below a certain temperature. These include:

• Restaurant leftovers (especially meat, rice and seafood)
• Deli meats
• Soft cheeses
• Open dairy products
• Breast milk or reconstituted infant formula
• Medications that require refrigeration (such as insulin)

Credit: iStock

What should I do if I need to keep things cold while travelling?

If you need to store medication or other important items at a safe temperature, call your hotel before you arrive, and tell them you need a medical refrigerator, or a fridge that is at or below 5°C. If you’re worried, check that the hotel can provide this before you book.

Other things you can do

• If there’s a bottle of water in the hotel room fridge, hold it in your hand. If it only feels cool rather than icy cold, the fridge isn’t safe for food. 
• Don’t overfill the fridge – packing it full of stuff will only further weaken the already-weak air circulation.
• If you’re on the road a lot, packing a fridge thermometer is an easy way to check the internal temperature of the fridge in your hotel room.

Related story: When’s the last time you cleaned your water bottle? We need to talk