How to store strawberries

How to tell strawberries have gone bad

• Check the pack for mould before you store it. If one berry is mouldy, spores have already reached the berries around it: discard the mouldy berry and any touching it.
• Soft, leaking or dull berries with wet patches are past their best. Whitish or grey fuzz is mould, and those berries go out.
• Wash berries under cold running water only just before eating, with the cap still on. Washing early adds moisture and speeds spoilage.
• In a home fridge strawberries keep about 3 days. Cut berries should be sealed, dated and used by the next day.

Sources: Strawberries fact sheet (USDA Food and Nutrition Service). The times on this page are quality guidelines, not safety limits; food that shows these signs goes out regardless of the date.

Storage habits that make the difference

Keep most fruit in the fridge's crisper drawer, but leave bananas, avocados and stone fruit on the counter until ripe. Store ethylene-sensitive fruit, like berries, away from apples and bananas to slow ripening. Wash fruit just before eating, not before storing, since early washing speeds up spoilage.