Is your refrigerator running?

Yes.

Is your refrigerator running up your food bill?

Also, yes.

Forget about leaving the doors open while you search for a midnight snack—though that is a waste, too—your ice box is slowly sucking money from your wallet because of its contents.

That conclusion comes from Dr. Jill Roberts, who teaches food safety at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. Roberts says consumers are unnecessarily refrigerating common items and undue cold is causing waste.

Roberts whipped up a list of things we should strive to keep out of the refrigerator.

ONIONS

Refrigeration prematurely ruins onions, Robert explains.

“When you stick them in the refrigerator, you introduce moisture,” she said. “They start to mold; when they mold they become soft.”

Roberts says leaving the mesh sack in a dry, dark place (like a pantry) is fine.

POTATOES

Similar to onions, potatoes will soften and possibly mold when left in a refrigerator. Roberts said cold will also change a potato’s chemical makeup and neutral flavor.

“This is a starch,” she said, while holding a potato. “When you put a starch in the cold it starts to convert to sugar.”

If you’re concerned a big bag will rot in the pantry, Roberts has a suggestion: Buy a smaller bag that suits you needs.

TOMATOES

Dr. Roberts is blunt.

“It’s just criminal to put that guy in the refrigerator,” she said.

Read the full story at My Fox Tampa Bay.