The Freezer Aisle Door Habit Way Too Many Of Us Need To Break

Allow us to break the news gently: There's no need to hold the supermarket freezer door open while making a purchasing decision. The doors are clear. It's literally a big, transparent glass window designed to allow shoppers to peer at the inventory unobstructed. Still, holding the freezer door open while shopping is a supermarket mistake that way too many of us make and need to break. It can create problems for the food, as well as for the freezers.

Propping the door open for a prolonged period causes the inside panel to fog up with condensation. Now, the next shopper behind you is going to have to open that clouded-up door in order to see the offerings inside. It's a perpetuating cycle that – especially on a busy day at the grocery store – can create major quality issues for overall temperature control in the freezer aisle. As one user in the subreddit r/mildlyinfuriating rants, "I get SO irrationally frustrated when I'm in the frozen food aisle and someone opens a transparent door to look at food. They don't see what they want and close the door leaving it all fogged up and now I have to open the door and be TFG [that f*****g guy]!" 

Worse yet, holding the freezer door open creates a food safety risk. Increased temperatures can lead to frost buildup on the products inside the display, as well as partially-thawed food, or even harmful microbial growth such as salmonella, E. coli, and listeria.

Ensuring and optimizing food quality and preventing foodborne illnesses is serious business. In the state of Illinois, for instance, grocery store temperature control is regulated and routinely monitored by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). This attention to specific temperature zoning needs is the reason why grocery stores are divided into clearly-defined refrigerated, frozen, and room-temp sections as part of the store's fundamental layout. Grouping food items with similar temperature needs enables more consistent climate management ... that is, unless someone hangs out with the freezer door open.

That said, browse for as long as you like. Weigh out one frozen pizza against another for multiple minutes when deciding whether you're in the mood for stuffed crust or a wood-fired pie, if that's what it takes. Just do it with the freezer door closed — and don't actually remove any products from the freezer until you know what you want to put in your cart. As one comment from a grocery store employee in the Reddit thread adds, "The people that go to the pizza freezer, open it, take five minutes to read the back of a box and then grab a new box, 20 minutes later they finally close the freezer ... WHY, IT LITERALLY HAS A SIGN SAYING TO CHOOSE BEFORE OPENING." Lastly, when you're finished, take care to shut the door behind you, making sure it closes and seals.