Yes, it's the same stuff. The packaging is designed and worded by the marketing department to get you to buy and use more of the stuff.

However if it reads "washing soda" it is NOT edible. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and washing soda (sodium carbonate) are not interchangable.

I think they also charge more for a package of fridge and freezer soda than they do for a regular package. Another marketing gimmick.

It definitely says fridge/freezer. I asked DH for baking soda and I just noticed what he bought and just wanted to be sure. This was the same trip he came home with the wrong sprouts though I have used them in a stir fry and salad and they are good.

I realize you are using this soda for baking and not odor control but for very effective odor control in your frig go to a pet store and buy some of the charcoal that is used in the water filter of an aquarium. It works great,much better than baking soda.

The only difference I've ever found is that fridge/freezer baking soda has a perforated box that allegedly allows it to absorb odors.

When you get right down to it, though, baking soda is NOT a good odor absorbant.

If you want to keep odors down in the fridge, get activated charcoal.

Baking soda is baking soda.....even if the box they put it in is different.
And baking soda does nothing to absorb odors nor to keep your freezer clean. That's another marketing ploy!
Back in"The olden days", women used baking soda to clean their refrigerators. It's slightly abrasive and neutralizes any sour smell from spilled milk. And somehow that got extrapolated to "Keep a dish of baking soda in your refrigerator to absorb odors"...Huh??
Try this, put an open dish of chopped onions in your refrigerator....notice the smell. Now add an open dish of baking soda....notice the onions still smell!
I think one of the reasons for the "refrigerator and freezer soda" is that baking soda is what it is....and the "name brand" costs about twice what the supermarket brand does....so they make a box with a different label!
Linda C

read what Kframe said. A bowl of activated charcoal (from the pet store) works best at absorbing smells. Use your baking soda only for cooking and baking.

I will keep the activated charcoal in mind if I need an odor control.

I kept one in the fridge for years until I heard it really didn't work or do anything for odors. Yes, I poured the old box down the drain to freshen it up too...LOL Another bonus to the marketing and ad department!

David

Actually, pouring baking soda down the drain might be a better use for it.

It's mildly abrasive, so when you spin the disposal blades, the soda will help clean little particles of rancid food off them and the walls of the disposal.

Another trick I like to do to keep the disposer fresh is pour some soda down it and follow it up with some vinegar.

The foaming action helps clean the walls and the sink gasket.

It's good as a paste to clean tarnished sterling silver too. Kinda messy though.

LOL, I have to tell you getting the wrong thing at the store is strictly a "man thing".

DH used to do it ALL the time. I accused him of getting the wrong thing on purpose so I'd give up sending him on errands. One time I got so hacked at him, I was cooking for a visit from HIS family and I sent him to the store to get something I needed and he came back with totally the wrong thing. So I had to turn off all the fires, change my clothes and run to the grocery store MYSELF, return what he got and get what I told him to get in the first place! GRRRRR

But, I'm mellowing out in my old age. I've seen young men at the grocery store, looking lost, standing in front of a shelf with a can in their hand and the cell phone in the other: "What does the can LOOK like? What does it say on it? OK, this one says....." So I'm not sure now if they do it on purpose or not. Maybe they're just missing that grocery store gene....

I'm pretty sure that guy with the cell phone is my husband.

On the topic of baking soda: It's a great substitute if you are out of Comet. I use it to clean my sink, bathtub and sometimes toilet. I've also used it with a teaspoon of Dawn when I was out of detergent for the dishwasher. It works well to clean an empty dishwater (old school, not self-cleaning), too. I think it works better than Borax for laundry.

Since I discovered all this, I've saved a ton on cleaning supplies. It's cheaper than most products and it's definitely a lot cheaper than 7th Generation and just as eco-friendly.

~Amanda

Ilene_in_neok , I am not complaining. he is willing to do the grocery shopping. It is rare the exact thing I need immediately i.e. the correct sprouts, he went back so no complaints from me. I will admit to our grocery bill being considerably higher since he does it. He pays no attention to prices.
I have used Baking soda for many of the above mentioned ideas.

According to my box of fridge and freezer it says that it is not recommended for baking as the granulation is designed specifically for deodorizing it does not on this box give you what it is made out of it doesn't say if it is bicarbonate or if it is carbonate so I have no way of knowing so I'm returning 3 boxes of fridge and freezer to buy baking soda and feel Arm & Hammer should be paying for my gas for misleading people

It’s bicarbonate.

https://churchdwight.com/ingredient-disclosure/commercial-professional/42000844-ah-fridge-n-freezer.aspx

What’s misleading?

If your fridge has persistent odors it is time to give it a thorough cleaning and make sure that foods are fresh and properly covered. There really should be no need for deodorizing a clean refrigerator.

Both products are sodium bicarbonate. In the past Arm & Hammer baking soda could also be used as a fridge or freezer deodorizer; the carton had a place for writing the date. I believe it still does. But now they have a special carton specifically called "Fridge & Freezer" that is designed to open on both sides to let air flow through. Of course, when I asked Church & Dwight if i=t could be used for human consumption their answer was a cover-your-butt "not recommended".. I suppose if any F&F stuff gets spilled, swept up and reused during packaging it would not be a big deal, but it would be if you wanted to use it for cooking, an antacid, or dentifrice. I'm sure it won't kill you if you had to use it in an emergency, but don't if you don't have to. Incidentally, the last package I picked up in the baking goods aisle turned out to be Fridge & Freezer, so it should have been in the cleaning products aisle instead.

If they were selling a potentially contaminated product, it would say something like "not for consumption" prominently on the box, and it wouldn't look so much like the regular box that it would confuse an illiterate consumer. What it says the difference is is Spillproof Box and Flo-Thru Technology. It's the packaging that's different, not the contents. With "The Standard of Purity" on their seal, they'd better not be selling sweepings! In-house counsel take a very dim view of such things, and so does the FDA. I'm not saying it doesn't happen at the lazy worker level, but it's a sure bet it's not company policy. The customer service answer was either someone ill trained, winging it, or, more likely, as you say, a CYA response not that it's not proper to eat, but so hysterics don't talk themselves into thinking they have problems from using the wrong baking soda, since they're already worked up enough to call, even though it says purity on the seal.

I agree. I first started to research the subject after buying the Fridge and Freezer produc tby mistake from the supermarket baking aisle. The package was hard to open for my medicinal and cooking application because it was specifically designed as a flow-through deodorizer. I saw forums where people warned against using that product as regular baking soda, but that was just their opinion, But even when I contacted the manufacturer, the answer I got was "not recommended". I'm sure they're just covering their ass and wishing to sell two products. The MSDS for both products is is virtually identical other than the intended use and ecological information. I'm sure it's okay to use the Fridge & Freezer stuff for human consumption in a pinch and you won't die. I've drank water out of a muddy stream and didn't die. Nevertheless, I put the Fridge & Freezer stuff in my fridge and bought some regular baking soda for cooking and medicinal use.

Or...one could just empty it into a canister....

I always empty the baking soda into a sealed jar I keep in the bathroom and use it for cleaning teeth and as an antacid. You really don't want it to absorb bathroom smells.

Baking soda does not absorb odors....not in the refrigerator nor in the bathroom.

When you google the subject, there is no hard evidence either way, but a lot of it is certainly marketed and sold for that purpose. Just like apple cider vinegar is supposed to cure everything, :)

Baking soda will neutralize sour, acedic smells....like sour milk. But it's best wiped on. If you have a dish of sour stinking milk on the counter, putting s dish of baking soda next to it won't remove the smell. Putting a dish of baking soda next to a plate of limburger won't neutralize the smell.

Baking soda is chemically not very "reactive" and to think that the surface of a pile of it would come in contact with enough acedic molecules floating around your refrigerator to reduce smells is foolish and not true.
There are quite a few of false scientific theories that people believe....like a cut onion absorbs "germs" from the air and that's why you should never leave a cut onion unwrapped but a pile of cut onions is good in a sick room.
And that vinegar attracts and absorbs cigarette smoke, wearing rubber boots in the house ruins your eyesight.
My grandmother thought eating fish and any milk product in the same meal would poison you.
A highschool chemistry class should dispel those myths.

Likely just a way to get people to buy more baking soda, IMO.

And I realize this is a resurrected thread, but the info seems evergreen to me.

"...but the info seems evergreen to me."

I have no idea what that even means ...

It means it's always pertinent.

Since I’ve sadly become handicapped and can’t drive, unless he takes me, my husband does most of the weekly grocery shopping. And more than occasionally comes home with what I didn’t want/need. I really would rather to place my order online and just have him pick it up, but for whatever reason I don’t understand, he’d rather get it himself. And yes, he never looks at prices and does home with “treats” of course for the grand kids. Lol. As if.

Chase, that's hilarious!!!

Regarding putting vinegar and baking soda down the drain to clean it, that's a false sense of security as well. It just looks cool, without actually doing anything. The fizzing is happening at the point of where they 2 chemicals meet, it doesn't get down in the drain far enough to actually do anything.

Actually Janie, over at the Kitchen Table remarked years ago, that her plumber said that's what ruined her drain. Plumbers don't advocate people doing that.

Baking soda and vinegar can't hurt your drain....but for the fact that it won't fix a clog. Plumbers always want you to call them, at $75 an hour of more, to fix anything.