Consumers Need Clearer Advice About Freezing Food As UK Food Waste Hits 7 Million Tons a Year

05 Jul 2016 --- The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have announced that it will collaborate with Defra and WRAP to launch a review into the guidance provided to the food industry on date marking food.

The announcement comes after a survey conducted as part of the UK’s Food Safety Week reveals that concerns about food poisoning causes consumers to waste huge amounts of safe-to-eat frozen food.

Of the 1500 who took part in the survey, 43% incorrectly said that food can only be frozen on the day of purchase, 38% incorrectly said it is dangerous to refreeze meat after it has been cooked and 36% wrongly believe that food can become unsafe to eat while in the freezer.

The research also found that 90% of people say there are foods they would never freeze.

The FSA believes that many of the consumer beliefs identified in the survey are having an impact on food waste.

Over two thirds of the consumers surveyed claim to have thrown food away in the past month, with bread, fruit, vegetables and leftover meals topping the list. The most common reason given for throwing food away is that food was past its ‘use by’ date, whilst 30% admit to throwing food away as they had bought too much and didn’t eat it.

Steve Wearne, Director of Policy at the FSA, said: 'Every year, we throw away seven million tons 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.”

The collaboration with Defra and WRAP will see the bodies consider whether the remit of the guidance should be expanded to cover food storage and freezing advice for consumers.

A spokesperson from the FDA told FoodIngredientsFirst: “The original guidance was published jointly by Defra and FSA as labeling and date marking comes within both department’s remit. Both departments have a long-standing relationship with WRAP and by partnering them in the process we’ll be able to draw on their experience and knowledge of good practice in this area, and hopefully make the guidance a more useful document. Ideally we aim to publish the guidance by this time next year.”

The FSA hope that by educating the public to make better use of their freezers and by reviewing the guidance provided to the food industry on date marking food, they can help consumers to waste less food.

The FDA spokesperson explains: “We’re carrying a PR, partnership and digital campaign during Food Safety Week. So far we’ve generated 150 pieces of news coverage and we’re working with a number of consumer brands to promote the messages.”

by Hannah Gardiner