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There are many ways to take a question and assume what is being asked. When closing a question you have to make such an assumption.

My question was closed. The mod who closed it was kind enough to post a custom explanation that admonished me not to post rants or require that answers guess at an organizations motivations.

I'll admit I gave the question a dramatic tone in an effort to make my little apple escapade an interesting read. I certainly didn't mean to start a manifesto. I'd appreciate any guidance about where this line was crossed.

I'll also admit that anyone telling me the history of exactly why this rule exists would be interesting to me. But I don't see why every, or even any, answer would be required to provide that. Rather, the question is about explaining why an apple in my fridge could be considered safer than an apple in theirs. I'm not assuming they're exactly as safe. I'm assuming there is something I'm not considering. Something maybe you food experts would know.

Sorry to make a fuss but my response went unanswered. I'd really like to understand these rules so I can post here.

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I'm obviously not the commenter, but I can see that this could be a rant. None of the SE sites are designed for discussion - they aim for questions with one or more answers that have some backing (references, precedent etc.), and your question looks like an attempt to open a discussion on whether they or you were right.

However, I can see plenty of other problems with your question, which would be equally valid reasons to close.

Reasons why I would vote for close:

  1. There isn't enough detail in your question for us to say why you were told not to put the apple there - food safety rules differ around the world, so even where you are might have helped.
  2. You were told something that may or may not be correct - I wouldn't necessarily expect a checkout person to be aware of health codes applying to fridges, that would be for the food prep staff to know. They may have been making something up just to get you out of their hair. Only an opinion can answer this point.
  3. See Joe's comment - but it's speculation. I could equally speculate that they use that space at times when you aren't around and don't want to have to clear out random junk in there. It's all just speculation, so not answerable with defined reasons without going and asking people in the cafeteria.

So, lots of problems with no conceivable way to fix.

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  • 1) is U.S. specific enough? 2) The two check out people who talked to me about this are the ones who order and stock the fridges. They seem to know the health codes by heart. 3) it’s only speculation when you assume my question is only exactly why they did what they did. All I’m asking is why anyone anywhere might consider making such a rule. That’s not speculation. That’s familiarity with apples, fridges, and food service. Something I don’t have. I’m willing to reword the question. I’m just not sure how any question can be made this speculation proof yet. Commented Jul 18, 2024 at 23:51
  • @candied_orange 1) Yes, government controlled. It would make a good addition to the question. 2) Perhaps they do know them, but we can only speculate on their answer without knowing the specifics of their set-up. 3) Still speculation - as in 2), we don't know enough about their set-up to be able to answer. Can apples go in a fridge? - yes. Can they be stored in a fridge? - yes. Are there rules specifically for apples? - no. Does the company have a rule on food safety for their fridges or that particular fridge? - Maybe, but we can only speculate what rules and why... Commented Jul 19, 2024 at 1:01
  • this speculation thing really has me flummoxed. It's not at all what I meant to ask. Try it like this: let's say I've just been elected world emperor and have responsibility over all health codes on the planet. I've heard that apples can't be placed in food service fridges but have no idea why. I ask you, my trusted experts if we should continue this rule and why or if we should dispose of it. What say you? Would phrasing it like that remove room for speculation? Commented Jul 19, 2024 at 1:17
  • @candied_orange Let me put it like this - Is there a rule against apples in fridges? The answer is NO. Why they said not to do it is pure speculation. Commented Jul 19, 2024 at 1:35
  • That would be a fine answer. How do I write an acceptable question that would get me to it? Commented Jul 19, 2024 at 1:38
  • @candied_orange The way to would be to ask about the rules on food safety regarding fruit. However, you would a) need to not provide the cafeteria context (rant according to mod), and b) realize that this is a simple look at the rules, which you can find on many .gov (CDC, FDA, Food Safety etc.) sites for the USA, so is easy homework. It also might well have a duplicate (use the search function to look before posting), so might get closed again. Commented Jul 19, 2024 at 3:07

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