Fridge fail

Many households still don’t have a refrigerator because such an appliance is expensive. That’s the reality in the town of Oxchuc, in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico.

For local housewife Teresa Sanchez, 46, she preserves meat by smoking it using a wood-burning stove in her house, an indigenous method practiced by her Tzeltal ancestors and taught by her grandparents, Agence France-Presse reported.

As for prolonging the shelf life of corn tortillas, a staple preferred by many Mexicans but one that can go bad quickly in the country’s high temperatures, food scientist Raquel Gomez has developed a flatbread that doesn’t expire or spoil easily and doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

Gomez’s tortilla, made from wheat flour, is laced with probiotics, live microorganisms found in yogurt and other fermented foods, which allows it to be stored for up to a month without refrigeration, much longer than a homemade one. The scientist is looking for partners who can mass-produce the lab-made tortillas.

Meanwhile, having a fridge in the house not only helps prevent food spoilage and wastage. The family of Bradley Byrd from Jacksonville, Florida, USA, bought a KitchenAid refrigerator from a Costco store in late November, and a team of third-party contractors from RXO delivered and installed the appliance on 2 December, according to the New York Post (NYP).

Byrd was already in the office when his daughter called to report that the house was “under water” after the installers left. When he got home, there were two inches of water on the floor. The water was flowing out from a crack in the waterline hose wrongfully left under the fridge by the installers. The fridge’s wheels apparently rolled on the hose, cracking it.

Byrd spent over $300,000 to relocate his family and pay for renovations to their damaged home and furniture, according to NYP.

He filed a claim with Costco, which offered to pay the family $175,000, including a share from the installer. The family did not agree to any settlement, as they plan on suing both Costco and RXO, Byrd said on his website. WJG @tribunewphl_wjgpreferred by many Mexicans but one that can go bad quickly in the country’s high temperatures, food scientist Raquel Gomez has developed a flatbread that doesn’t expire or spoil easily and doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

Gomez’s tortilla, made from wheat flour, is laced with probiotics, live microorganisms found in yogurt and other fermented foods, which allows it to be stored for up to a month without refrigeration, much longer than a homemade one. The scientist is looking for partners who can mass-produce the lab-made tortillas.

Meanwhile, having a fridge in the house not only helps prevent food spoilage and wastage. The family of Bradley Byrd from Jacksonville, Florida, USA, bought a KitchenAid refrigerator from a Costco store in late November, and a team of third-party contractors from RXO delivered and installed the appliance on 2 December, according to the New York Post (NYP).

Byrd was already in the office when his daughter called to report that the house was “under water” after the installers left. When he got home, there were two inches of water on the floor. The water was flowing out from a crack in the waterline hose wrongfully left under the fridge by the installers. The fridge’s wheels apparently rolled on the hose, cracking it.

Byrd spent over $300,000 to relocate his family and pay for renovations to their damaged home and furniture, according to NYP.

He filed a claim with Costco, which offered to pay the family $175,000, including a share from the installer. The family did not agree to any settlement, as they plan on suing both Costco and RXO, Byrd said on his website.