Cutting food waste at home: storage, leftovers, and use-by vs best-before

Use-by and best-before are not the same

• Use by is about safety. It appears on foods that go off quickly, such as fresh meat, fish and ready meals. Do not eat food after its use-by date, even if it looks and smells fine, because the bacteria that cause food poisoning cannot usually be seen or smelt. You can, however, freeze food up to and including its use-by date, following any instructions on the pack.
• Best before is about quality. It appears on foods that last longer, such as dried pasta, tins, frozen foods and biscuits. After the date, the food is not necessarily unsafe, but flavour and texture may decline. Use your judgement, and check that packaging is undamaged.
• Display until and sell by dates are for shop staff, not shoppers.

Storing food so it lasts

• Keep your fridge cold. The FSA advises keeping the fridge at 5 degrees Celsius or below. A cheap fridge thermometer helps, because built-in dials are often vague.
• Do not overfill the fridge. Cold air needs to circulate.
• Store raw meat and fish at the bottom, covered, so juices cannot drip onto other food.
• Keep bread at room temperature or in the freezer. Slice it before freezing and toast slices from frozen.
• Store potatoes and onions somewhere cool, dark and dry.
• Wrap or bag salad leaves, herbs and greens with a piece of kitchen paper to absorb moisture.
• Put new purchases at the back and older ones at the front, so the oldest food is used first.

Make the freezer your ally

• Freeze before it is too late. Bread, milk, grated cheese, cooked rice, sliced fruit, chopped onions and herbs in a little oil all freeze well.
• Label everything with what it is and the date. Unlabelled freezer bags are where food goes to be forgotten.
• Defrost in the fridge, not on the worktop, and use defrosted food within 24 hours, following FSA advice.

Leftovers safely

1. Cool them quickly. FSA advice is to get leftovers into the fridge or freezer within one to two hours. Spreading food into a shallow container helps it cool faster.
2. Eat them within two days, or freeze them. Cooked rice needs extra care: NHS advice is to cool it quickly, keep it in the fridge for no more than a day and reheat it only once.
3. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
4. Do not reheat more than once. Take out only the portion you need.

Planning to waste less

• Check what you have before you shop, and plan meals around the food that needs using first.
• Shop with a list and avoid offers on fresh food you will not get through in time.
• Have a use-it-up meal once a week: an omelette, soup, fried rice, a frittata or a pasta bake that takes whatever is left.
• Use the whole vegetable. Broccoli stalks can be sliced into stir-fries, and peelings and ends can go into stock.
• Revive tired food. Limp carrots and celery work fine in soups. Overripe bananas make banana bread or can be frozen for smoothies. Stale bread becomes breadcrumbs or croutons.

When to throw something away