— Kathleen Watson

Miso, um, should be stored in a, uh, cool environment. And, um, it also needs to be kept clean. Uh, so in other words, no double dipping, no sticking your fingers into the miso, any of these, uh, additional microbes. 'cause already they're already microbes in the miso, right? It, it's, it's a, a living sort of organism. Any of these outside contaminants will start to, um, have a, a, a, a negative effect right on the miso. It'll start to break down over time. And, um, you know, for folks that, um, uh, you know, I've known that, uh, that make miso at, at home, for example. Uh, it's not refrigerated. It's just kept, uh, you know, in a miso container. It's kinda like a, a, a, a, an earthenware pickling jar and kept in a relatively cool place, and then it's going to be, um, uh, otherwise kept clean. Um, you know, during that period, you know, weeks or, or, or so that you might use that batch of miso. Um, let's see. But most commonly, uh, at least in the United States, I've seen folks, uh, refrigerated. I, I buy store-bought miso, so, you know, I'm, I'm refrigerating it, it comes from the refrigerated section in the grocery store, and I just maintain that cold chain, uh, to home here. Um, but otherwise, yeah, you know, uh, when it comes time to incorporating it into your diet, uh, you know, I just realized that I also put it on toast every once in a while. It's a very nice spread, uh, to use. And yeah, I encourage you to focus on quality ingredients. That's what it's all about, right? In the long run, uh, you will benefit because, uh, your health will be better, um, 20, 40, 50 years from now, uh, when it really counts to have good health. Um, so I encourage you, Kathleen, to do all that you're able to do to accentuate the quality of the foods that you and your family enjoy.