Enrichment · Arts & Creativity · Kitchen

Use it today,
or toss it.

Leftovers keep three or four days, raw chicken one or two, and the fridge dial says nothing about the real temperature. Write down what went in and when; the tracker works out each use-by date and puts what needs eating first at the top of the list.

Add a fridge What you get

$5one-time · every device you sign in on

Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Arts & Creativity collection, $69 for 23 items.

Your kitchen

The worked example is made up: a fridge at 42°F with soup to finish today and milk past its week, and a garage freezer with chili past best quality. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Arts & Creativity$5

What you finish with: A record per fridge, freezer or pantry with its thermometer reading and last clean-out, every item with its kind, the day it was opened, cooked or frozen and any package date, and four kitchen habits. Works out each item’s use-by date from USDA FoodKeeper times or the package date; counts what to toss, what to use within two days and what is fine; flags a warm fridge or freezer and each item to toss or use now.
Who it is for: Students cooking for themselves for the first time, families planning meals around what is already in the fridge, and anyone cutting food waste.
Format: Browser tracker with a saved record per space. Prints one space as a list to tape inside the door, every space in a table or a blank list; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access: $5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Arts & Creativity collection ($69) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives: The Arts & Creativity space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support: Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

Put an appliance thermometer on a middle shelf.
List each item with the day it was opened or cooked.
Eat from the top of the list down.
Toss anything flagged; do not taste-test it.
Clear the space out once a week before shopping.

Add a fridge

How long food keeps

Upper ends of the USDA FoodKeeper ranges. When in doubt, throw it out: smell and look do not tell you about the bacteria that cause food poisoning.

Dates on packages

Except for infant formula, U.S. law does not require dates on food. “Best if used by” is about quality, not safety; “use by” is the last date for peak quality. Once a package is opened, the opened-food times apply instead of the printed date.

The freezer

Food kept at 0°F stays safe indefinitely because bacteria cannot grow. The freezer times here are for best quality: after them, food can be dry or bland but is not unsafe.

Sources

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. FoodKeeper app and data (foodsafety.gov/keep).
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. Food Product Dating and Leftovers and Food Safety (fsis.usda.gov).
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Are You Storing Food Safely? (fda.gov).
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. Freezing and Food Safety (fsis.usda.gov).

The worked example is made up. Times are the upper ends of USDA FoodKeeper ranges for food kept at 40°F or 0°F; follow any instructions on the package, and when in doubt, throw it out. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.

Use it today,or toss it.