Council to ‘put a freeze on food waste’ this Food Safety Week

July 4, 2016 by Southend Borough Council

Council to ‘put a freeze on food waste’ this Food Safety Week

Monday 4th July 2016

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is supporting a national campaign that aims to educate the nation about how to waste less food by making safe use of our freezers.

Published to coincide with this year’s Food Safety Week (4th-10th July), new 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 done so because 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. Nearly a quarter (23%) gave “not having the chance to eat food before it went off” as a reason

This contributes to the seven million tonnes of food that is wasted in the UK each year, costing each household around £470.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is backing the FSA’s campaign to encourage residents in the Borough and across the UK to help tackle the problem of food waste by planning ahead and, if necessary, to freeze food within its use-by date if there is a chance you may end up throwing it away once the use-by date expires.

Cllr Mark Flewitt, Executive Councillor for Housing, Planning and Public Protection Services, said: “Putting perfectly safe food in the freezer rather than the bin is good for the environment, good for your conscience and good for your pocket. That’s why we’re proud to be supporting this year’s campaign and encourage residents to get involved by following posts on our @SouthendBC Twitter account with the hashtag #EatitCookitFreezeit during the week.

“The freezer is like a pause button and you can safely freeze most foods right up to the use-by date. You can even cook defrosted meat into a new meal and freeze it to eat on another day. With so much food being thrown away in the UK each year, we want Southend residents to think about how they can use their freezers to their full potential, rather than putting food in your food waste caddy.”

“The FSA recommends eating food you have frozen within three to six months and checking for any freezing instructions on the packaging. Once defrosted, the pause button is off, so defrost food as and when you need it and eat it within 24 hours of it being fully defrosted.”

Kevin Hargin, head of Foodborne Disease Control at the FSA said: “Every year, we throw away seven million tonnes of food and drink from our homes. Much of this waste is unnecessary, and a better understanding of how to freeze food safely could go a significant way towards tackling the problem.

“Our research shows that many of the fears the public has about freezing food are unfounded and we need to ensure they know the facts. Thirty-one per cent of the people we spoke to said that more information about how to safely freeze food would help them to reduce their food waste – that’s why freezing is the focus of this year’s Food Safety Week.

For more information on freezing food safely, visit www.food.gov.uk/useby or follow @foodgov on Twitter for tips and advice throughout Food Safety Week.