Can't get food from the fridge??

For some reason my sims cannot for the life of me get leftovers from the fridge?? I've tried putting the food on the counters for them to grab a serving, but they still can't. I've reset them, the fridge, the food on the counter, restarted my game. But nothings working. I need to know what's going on, because I don't want to keep using the Cheat Needs to keep them alive.