Store it, don’t waste it

One of main reasons we waste food is because it’s gone off. Sometimes that’s because plans have changed or the food’s been bought but forgotten about, but often it’s because of how it’s been stored. Here’s a few tips that should help your food to live extra days, weeks and even months.

Rice Rules

It's true that you could get food poisoning from eating reheated rice. But it's not actually the reheating that's the problem - it's the way the rice has been stored before reheating. These simple rice rules should ensure you don't have any problems.

Meat

It's especially important to store meat safely in the fridge to stop bacteria from spreading and avoid food poisoning.

Here are a few tips to help your meat stay fresher for longer.

Food for the fridge

Our most perishable (and often most expensive) food is kept in the fridge, so it’s important to keep it at the right temperature and keep tabs on use-by dates.

Here are a few tips to help your cool food stay fresher for longer.

Bread

Do you love bread? Most of us love a slice of toast in the morning or as a snack, but did you know we throw away £640 million worth of bread every year? That’s the equivalent of 37 million slices every day!

Here are a few tips to help your bread stay fresher for longer.

A new lease of life

Some food might look like they’re ready to be thrown away, but can actually be revived and given a new lease of life.

Here are a few tips that magically revive food.

Food for the freezer

The freezer is a great friend when you’re trying to reduce the food your waste because there's not much that can't be frozen until it’s needed.

Here are a few tips to help you freeze your food.

Bakery

Most bakery products have a ‘best before’ date - these dates refer to quality, so your bakery products can still be eaten after this date, but may no longer be at their best.

Here are a few tips to help your bakery items stay fresher for longer.

Cooking for your children

Cutting down on food waste can be a challenge, especially when you’re pushed for time and your kids don’t always want to eat what you’ve cooked for them. Sometimes kids ask for pretty much everything, and then just take a bite or two of each thing, still leaving lots of uneaten food on their plates. So, what can you do to reduce food waste?

Your Hints and Tips

Read more hints and tips about reducing food waste from our readers.

Give us your Support

Why not save yourself some money and help the environment by giving us your support and making a pledge to reduce the amount of food you waste?

Love Food, Hate Waste

Love Food Surrey supports the national Love Food Hate Waste campaign.

Read more food waste facts on the Love Food, Hate Waste campaign website.

Watch the Dates

Keep an eye on the 'best before' and 'use-by' dates. The 'best before' dates are more about quality than safety, except for eggs. So when the date runs out it doesn't mean that the food will be harmful, but it might begin to lose its flavour and texture.