Researchers from the ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University will be inviting people to take part in a citizen science food safety research project during the Amgueddfa Cymru Food Festival in Cardiff on 9th September 2023.
As part of ZERO2FIVE’s ‘Is your fridge cold enough?’ project, 1000 people will be given a free fridge thermometer to take home and asked to upload information about the temperature of their fridge to an online portal.
The study aims to obtain information about the operating temperatures of as many fridges as possible to determine if they are storing food safely. People who take part in the project will also have the opportunity to enter a competition to win a £100 voucher.
ZERO2FIVE research has previously established that people trust their fridges to ensure their food is safe to eat, often without checking whether they are functioning at a safe temperature . In fact, most households lack refrigerator thermometers , meaning people may be unknowingly storing their food above the recommended 5°C . This can lead to faster growth of food spoilage and food poisoning bacteria .
Dr Ellen Evans, Reader in Food Safety Behaviour who is leading the project said, “This exciting citizen science project will give people a chance to take part in important research, but most importantly it will enable people to check whether their fridge is operating at a safe temperature and potentially reduce their risk of getting food poisoning. Fridge thermometers are an invaluable tool, and this is a great opportunity to get hold of one for free.”
To take part in the ‘Is your fridge cold enough?’ project, visit ZERO2FIVE’s researchers in the Good Food Cardiff Zone area at the Amgueddfa Cymru Food Festival in St Fagans National Museum of History on the 9th September 2023.
