Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM, has joined the call for families in Wales to help tackle food waste by using their freezers more, raising awareness of the range of food families can freeze in a bid to minimise the amount of food that is thrown away unnecessarily.
This comes as research released by the Food Standards Agency as part of Food Safety Week (4th-10th July) found that 75% of people surveyed in Wales have thrown food away in the past month, with bread (46%), fruit (39%), vegetables (34%) and leftover meals (25%) topping the list.
Lesley Griffiths AM said:
“According to Love Food Hate Waste, the average family throws away £60 worth of food each month that could have been eaten. Over the course of a year, this adds up to over £700, which is a significant amount of money.
“That’s why, this Food Safety Week, I want to highlight how families can save money by using their freezers to make food go further. Food can be frozen right up until its ‘use by’ date, and there are very few foods that can’t be put in the freezer. Freezing rather than throwing away can have a real impact on both food waste and family finances.”
Lesley Griffiths visited the Zero2Five food industry centre in Cardiff to demonstrate some of the foods that people may be surprised to find out can be frozen, including eggs, milk and fruit.
For more information on how to reduce waste and freeze food safely, visitwww.food.gov.uk/useby or follow @FSAWales #EatitCookitFreezeit on Twitter for tips and advice throughout Food Safety Week. For more freezer facts, visit wales.lovefoodhatewaste.com or hoffibwydcasaugwastraff.com.
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