I am having this issue too (with/without mods).
I have a mod for claiming ownership of items, and when I use it to claim ownership of meals, I can then drag them to the fridge. The food was in a university dorm, and it had been brought in by NPC roommates.
The second time, it was at my sim's parents' house while my played sim was visiting. This time, my player sim made the food at their house, but I still needed to "claim" the food to move it to their fridge.
So it seems to have to do with ownership of objects for the player sim, possibly on certain lots. I was thinking it might have something to do with previous fixes for public areas accumulating trash.