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I use Arm & Hammer Fridge'n'Freezer because it has a mesh and cardboard design to let air flow through it.

Now, do I think it works?

Not really!

You want activated charcoal, which absorbs odors like mad. It's the stuff that's in fish tank filters, which you can pick up for cheap at any pet store, and it's the right kind anyway because it's broken up into small bits for more surface area.

Ted Allen just covered this on his show Food Detectives. It doesn't work because there is very little surface area in a box of baking soda. It works better if it is spread out on a sheet pan, or better yet, do what Becca says and use activated charcoal.

How about keeping your fridge clean and the containers covered? Works for me.

If I've got an old box that I'm turning over for the new baking season (i.e. fall) then I throw it in the fridge--why not?

Baking soda helps, but if you want to rid your refrigerator of truly foul odors (like the ones we had to deal with after Hurricane Katrina), the thing to use -- don't laugh, it worked like a dream -- is ground coffee (unperked) it little "boats" made from newspaper. Extreme? You bet, but when you want to gag every time you open the door, it's the only thing that works, and believe me, we tried everything including bleach, to no avail. Thank goodness for coffee and newsprint. AND for good measure I keep a box of baking soda in the fridge and another in the freezer.

I do keep a box of baking soda in my fridge and freezer--it just makes me feel better! But also, besides keeping containers tightly sealed, throwing out old food regularly, and keeping the whole thing generally clean--keep an open bowl of fresh lemons and limes on the top shelf. It's pleasing to look at, and seems to help keep the fridge smelling fresh. Once a month or so, wipe down the shelves with lemon juice and water. I have even used lemon extract mixed with water. Lemons leave a light, refreshing scent and make things sparkle.

I never bothered. I don't think my fridge smells bad by any means.

Oh and the ground coffee trick does work. We did this to an office fridge that came to us from probably years in storage. It smelled terrible, almost like mothballs, and giving it a scrub didn't take the smell away. We kept ground coffee on the bottom and a container of baking soda on the top and it worked pretty well at reducing the smell.

i do this and I tell myself that it works, but who knows!

I bought an arm&hammer fridge fresh disk recently and we decided to try it in my husbands gym bag. It's a disc with kind of a breathable paper exterior so there's no loose baking soda. We are convinced that it did absorb quite a bit of the smelly gym bag odors.

Ditto Sally599, I like a fresh box for baking, so the last half of the box gets put in the fridge. Can't hurt..

Well, check this out:

http://consumerist.com/5038320/arm--hammer-baking-soda-now-deodorizes-for-30-days-instead-of-3-months

A&H has downgraded how long their box is supposed to work--from 3 months to 30 days, yet the product still 100% sodium bicarbonate. My BS-meter just went off the charts.

I like baking soda but not so much for fridge. I always had a box of baking soda in fridge but never seemed to work. Then, I read about an activated carbon odor absorber called FRIDGE IT and tried it. I've been sold since and don't need to use anything else. In fact, it works so well, I've discovered it also works in other places around the house too. Just recently saw it get a positive review from the Food Network too on a new show called Food Detectives. I buy it at kitchen stores or direct from www.innofresh.com