Xiao Man was rushed to hospital immediately after detected of symptoms of fever, cough and breathing difficulty and was later diagnosed of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The fundamental cause was the “refrigerator” at his home, where underneath the fridge evaporator, traces of Aspergillus niger were found.

Nowadays, the refrigerator has become people’s “treasury of happiness”. Housewives would almost invariably buy a whole week’s food, stuff it into the little “warehouse” (the fridge), and refill the refrigerator the next weekend. For convenience’s sake, many housewives would prepare several dishes and put them into the fridge, and when needed, take them out and eat them after heating. Such laziness cannot be encouraged, as it often leads to food-borne diseases.

Eating too much frozen food will cause the blood vessels to suddenly contract, reducing the amount of blood flow and stopping the secretion of digestive juice in the gastrointestinal tract after the stimulation of extremely low temperature to the stomach and intestines. Patients will then show symptoms of epigastric paroxysmal cramps, vomiting and other symptoms. Many patients with the so-called “fridge-induced gastritis” will show symptoms of nausea and vomiting only half an hour after eating frozen food. Some psychrotrophic bacteria and mildew can reproduce in large numbers at low temperatures, and when they enter people’s small intestines with the food that haven’t been thoroughly heated, they can cause the outbreak of “fridge-induced gastritis”, leading to abdominal pain and diarrhea.

As blood vessels are very sensitive to temperature changes, eating food soon after it’s taken out of the freezing compartment of the refrigerator will stimulate the oral mucosa, which will reflexibly lead to a series of symptoms including cerebral vasospasm, headache, dizziness and nausea.

The fridge is not a “strongbox”. The working principle of the refrigerator is to slow down the growth of microorganisms rather than kill them. The most suitable reproduction temperature for the majority of microorganisms is at around 37℃, and some would rapidly multiple at a temperature above 20℃. And although the vast majority of microorganisms slow down their growth at a temperature below 10℃, some bacteria can still survive and even multiple at a very low temperature. Therefore, inaccurate storage temperature, excessive high temperature of food, cross-storage of raw and cooked food will adversely affect the refrigeration of food, thus reducing the “armouring effect” of the refrigerator.

Hence, we strongly advise you not to eat a lot of frozen food, in which case diseases may break out as a result.