Storing food in the right way helps keep it fresh and tasty for longer meaning less is being wasted. That's good for the environment and your money.
Keep the right food in the fridge
Check your fridge is between 1C and 5C as this is the best range to keep food at its best for longer.
Twelve billion '5 a day' portions are thrown away each year. The fridge is an ideal place to store most of your fruit and vegetables. The exception is bananas (unless you have a banana bag) and whole pineapple and keep onions in a cool, dark place.
Wrap food in the fridge
Fresh fruit and vegetables need to breathe in the fridge so don't store them in completely sealed containers. Fruit and vegetable packaging has been designed to help it stay fresh for longer, so don't take the packaging off until you're ready to eat the food.
Once opened, food like cheese and ham keeps better if they're well wrapped - ideally by re-closing the pack, or putting them in an airtight container. Failing that, wrap them in foil or reusable wrapping.
Leftovers, wrapped or put in airtight containers, can be kept in the fridge for 2 days. If you won't get around to eating it in 2 days then label it up with contents and date and freeze it for a ready made meal when you are too busy to cook.
Freezer
If you are not going to eat it, remember you can freeze food before the 'use by' date. Defrost when you need it and use within 24 hours.
Milk, yogurt, cheese and bread can all be frozen.
You can freeze all of these foods:
- potatoes and other root vegetables – just blanche in boiling water for a few minutes, cool, and freeze in bags or tubs
- hard cheeses – cheddar and Parmesan can be grated and stilton crumbled before popping in the freezer – then added straight into soups, pasta, lasagne, gratins
- lemons – slice lemons up and freeze them to make refreshing ice cubes
- leftover roast meat – don’t let it go to waste, pop it in the freezer then use it again in a tasty pie or curry
- fresh herbs – add them to oil or butter then freeze to use again another time
- bread - bread keeps perfectly in the freezer for when it is needed, and you can use a sliced loaf at breakfast by toasting slices straight from frozen