Food Safety Week

Thousands of pounds are lost each year because households waste food which could be saved by freezing it before its use by date, according to figures from the Food Standards Agency.

Love food, hate waste is the theme of Food Safety Week 2016 which runs from Monday 4 July to Sunday 10 July.  

Research from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revealed that 68% of UK adults report that they have thrown food away in the past month.

Over two thirds (36%) of those who had thrown away food said they have discarded food as it was past its use by date. Other top reasons for throwing food away include buying too much and not eating it, which was reported by 30% of people; and not having the chance to eat food before it went off, which almost a quarter (23%) gave as an excuse for putting food in the bin.

This contributes to the seven million tonnes of food that is wasted in the UK each year which, according to the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, costs each household around £470 annually.

According to the FSA freezing acts as a pause button and it is safe to freeze food up until the ‘use by date.  This includes meat and meat cooked from previously cooked and frozen meat.

Once defrosted the pause button is off and defrosted food should be eaten within 24 hours.  

For more information and tips on food safety: 

Last updated: 29 November 2019