Here in Blackburn with Darwen, almost half of the ‘rubbish’ in our burgundy bins is food. A lot of that is fresh fruit and veg, bread, dairy products, rice and pasta that could have been used.
What can you do about food waste?
Think carefully about what you’re eating. Don’t overfill your plate and eat as much as you can to not waste any food.
Check the dates on any food before eating!
‘Use by’ refers to safety: you must not eat food past the ‘use by’ date. You cannot always smell the bacteria that causes food to spoil, so after the ‘use by’ date, the food may appear perfectly fine to eat, but could still lead to food poisoning.
Let’s be absolutely clear: you should NOT eat food after the ‘use by’ date – even if it looks and smells OK.
Freeze any food you think you might not eat before it’s ‘use by’ date!