Tips for safe food storage

NEW YORK -- The precious time you spend food shopping can be wasted if the groceries you buy aren't stored properly and used in a timely fashion.

Investment of time in organizing food storage is well spent; you'll reap the rewards later. Chaos in the kitchen drains you of time, energy and peace of mind.

Here's some basic advice from Tupperware about how to organize, keep and use well and safely the food you bring into your kitchen from the market.

When in doubt, throw it out: If it looks or smells strange, chuck it. Some reminders: Cooked poultry dishes keep for three or four days in the refrigerator; uncooked bacon lasts one week, fresh eggs three weeks.

Unopened canned foods can be stored for at least 12 months at 70 to 75 degrees. Many canned foods will keep longer, but because it's not always possible to know the food's age, set a 12-month maximum.

Leftovers: Hot foods should be stored and refrigerated within two hours after cooking. Date leftovers so they can be used within a safe time frame.

Frozen foods: The amount of time commercially frozen foods can be kept in your freezer depends on the kind of food it is and how long and at what temperature the food was stored before you bought it. Store fruits for a maximum of one year, veggies up to eight months. And the best scoop: Ice cream can last up to one year!

Dried foods should be stored in cool, dry, dark areas for four months to one year, depending on the heat they're exposed to. The higher the temperature, the shorter the storage time.

Cleaning up storage space: Take it one cabinet at a time. That way you'll be focused, you'll avoid getting overwhelmed by the project.

Try to keep all the contents of your cabinets visible all the time. When you know what's in stock in your kitchen, your meal preparation and shopping routines will be simplified.

Clear out opened boxes and bags from cabinets. Half-empty boxes of pasta, cereal and so on look unappealing, take up space and result in waste when forgotten contents deteriorate.

Improve your kitchen's appearance by using attractive storage options. Organize cabinets by theme: Separate baking products, snack foods, grains and pastas by category. Then you'll know where to look for ingredients during meal preparation or when you're making up shopping lists.

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