Brits waste third of food

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British families throw away a third of all the food they buy, according to a new study.



The huge extent of food waste has been exposed with figures indicating the nation bins 4.4 million apples every single day of the year.



Altogether, 6.7 million tons of food that was once edible is discarded and 40% of it is fresh fruit and vegetables. The money spent on uneaten food comes to a whopping £3 billion a year.



The survey of over 2,000 householders showed that although we are buying more fruit and veg in an attempt to fulfil the recommended five portions a day, we fail to eat the produce before it goes off.



According to waste reduction experts, WRAP: 'The main reason we throw so much out is we simply do not eat it before it goes off. We could be making the problem worse by not storing fruit and vegetables in the best place once we bring it home from the shops.'



Research carried out with Sainsbury's found that putting fresh produce in the fridge increases its life by up to a fortnight.



WRAP has set up a new campaign named Love Food Hate Waste, aimed at persuading families to think about how much food they buy and how they store it.



The organisation's chief executive Dr Liz Goodwin said: 'By following some simple tips and advice we can all be saving money as well as helping the environment.'

Tuesday 8 April 2008

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We shop once a week and spend about £50 for the 2 of us - both early retired and eating 3 times a day!!! We don't waste any food - maybe a couple of slices of bread here and there which feed the birds outside on the bird table. We put all fresh veg in the bottom of the fridge, which last the whole week and sometimes even longer - I have eaten parsnips and avocados which were there over 3 weeks - all perfectly edible. We don't buy that many fresh fruit - only bananas and satsumas, and sometimes grapes, because we find plums or strawberries that are outside the season - are and remain very hard and don't taste sweet at all!!
Comment by Cate on April 08 13:05

I used to have that problem so started buying frozen veg, and any fresh fruit or veg we buy stays in the fridge. We still have the occasional thing we forget about but no where near as much as before. Any fresh fruit/veg not eaten goes in the compost.
Comment by Gem on April 08 16:17

I grew tired of throwing half- used jars of pasta sauce and yoghurt away, because I wasn't sure how long it had been opened I have designed and developed my own product called count on it. It is a food freshness label that encourages you to get the most out of your food, reminds you that it is still fresh and reduces the amount of potential food waste. It supports WRAP's philosophy of loving food, hating waste. It is available online at www.count-on-it.co.uk
Comment by lyndsey on April 24 16:44

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