BBC expert says ‘confusing’ fridge dial control can 'make you ill'

BBC expert says ‘confusing’ fridge dial control can 'make you ill'Dr Xand van Tulleken on BBC Morning Live also said some people believe in 'completely incorrect' defrost method widely usedCommentsNewsBen Hurst13:18, 15 Apr 2026Updated 13:29, 15 Apr 2026View ImageDr Xand van Tulleken on BBC Morning Live gave some key advice for anyone with a fridge(Image: BBC)A BBC expert has explained that your fridge could make you ‘very ill’ and said that a ‘confusing’ dial is often the cause - and also warned people they could be making a big milk mistake. Dr Xand van Tulleken was appearing on BBC Morning Live and said even his own fridge was confusing - and a key control if not used properly could lead to a bloom of bacteria.‌He said that people see the fridge as an ‘inert appliance’ and just basically turn it on without thinking about controls. However he explained this was a bad idea: “So, the fridge is entirely runs on the idea that bacteria don’t multiply quickly when they’re kept cool. So, if we start with one bacteria at room temperature, doubling every 20 minutes, by the end of this show, we’ll have half a million. By the end of the day, by bedtime, we’ll have a billion bacteria. You can almost see them kind of spreading across your food at room temperature. So, the fridge, the plan is to slow that all down.‌“But it’s difficult to run a fridge. We all kind of treat them quite casually. It’s a very inert appliance. We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about them, but it may be making us sick. And it’s worth emphasizing that every year in the UK, we get a couple of million instances of food poisoning which lead to a few dozen deaths which are very, very preventable and a huge amount of lost work and suffering and misery particularly for vulnerable people. So making sure that your fridge is keeping you safe is terribly terribly important. “The main culprits are salmonella, e.coli and listeria, those kinds of bacteria. But the same principle of slowing t...