Blog: Keep your food fresher for longer

Did you know that storing food in its packaging can help keep it fresher for up to two weeks longer, and save the average family up to £270 a year.

New research from Love Food Hate Waste – the national campaign that aims to reduce the amount of food we throw away – shows that only 13% of us realise that packaging can play an important role in protecting food in our homes.

In fact there’s a great opportunity for us all to save money every week. Even though the majority of us, 61% in fact, are mistakenly thinking fruit and vegetables will sweat and go off quicker if they’re left in the pack.

The evidence shows that if we keep our food in its packaging and store it according to the label when we get it home, we would have more time to eat it, reducing the 4.4 million tonnes of good food and drink wasted each year.

To help Shropshire residents waste less and save more Shropshire Council is supporting the new national Love Food Hate Waste campaign called ‘fresher for longer’.

The main theme of the campaign is to remind us packaging can not only protect our food from damage on its way to the shops, but keep it fresher for longer in our homes.

To save money, the best solution is to buy food we want to store for longer than a day or two, with the appropriate packaging. For example, even fruit and vegetables bought loose can last longer if stored properly in a bag that is lightly tied in the fridge.

Packaging innovation means many manufacturers and supermarkets now use breathable fruit and veg bags, have more reclosable  packs, and many more clever features, all designed to make food last longer and save us as consumers money.

Love Food Hate Waste’s Emma Marsh said: “Saving money is always at the top of people’s wish list and wasting less food achieves this. By taking advantage of new packaging innovations, getting to know the packs our food now comes in and discovering the best way our food wants to be stored, we can reduce the amount we throw away – which will have huge environmental benefits as well as saving us money. So when I get my food home, I keep it in its original packaging and check out the instructions on pack to keep my food fresher for longer.”