Introduction: Foodborne infections and diseases are an increasingly important public health problem. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reports that households have now been the origin of the greatest majority of confirmed outbreaks of foodborne infections and diseases for a number of years. In its 2017 annual report, EFSA pointed to inadequate thermal food processing as the main known cause of food-related illnesses in households, with reference to all registered cases of foodborne infections and diseases in the European Union (EU), followed by inadequate food storage temperature as the second main cause. Purpose: The purpose of the master’s thesis is to gain insight into the condition of domestic refrigerators at the consumer end of the food and nutrition supply chain in Slovenia. Methods: Using the snowball sampling technique, we included in the research 50 domestic refrigerators, in which we measured air temperature and the standardized test product core temperature. Based on the evaluation form drawn up beforehand and a record sheet, we evaluated the sanitary and technical condition of the refrigerator and consumer habits, checked food products expirations dates and monitored the refrigerator door opening frequency. Results: Both the average standardized test product core temperature and the average air temperature in consumers’ refrigerators were 5.9°C (SD = 2.2°C). The average values of the air temperature in refrigerators proved inadequate in 70% of cases, while the average standardized test product core temperature values were inadequate in 64% of cases. The average standardized test product core temperature in the refrigerators in rural households was 5.5°C (SD = 2.0°C) and 6.3°C (SD = 2.4°C) in urban households. The share of refrigerators that were in inappropriate sanitary condition is greater in urban (72%) than in rural environments (32%). The technical condition of the materials was evaluated as appropriate in 94% of cases. The expiration date analysis showed that over a half (64%) of food products were not expired. The percentage of food products with expired expiration date or date of minimum durability was 72% in urban households and 56% in urban environments. Consumers open their refrigerators on average 15 times a day in rural and 13 times a day in urban households, which, however, does not significantly affect the raising of the test product core temperature. Discussion and conclusion: The results show that refrigerators in Slovenia have more appropriate temperatures than most refrigerators in other countries. As there are significant shortcomings in consumer knowledge and habits, it might be a good idea to think about new (more effective) ways of informing and educating them.
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