bargain bugs
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Are you careless with leftovers and food dates?TRANSCRIPT
26 The Community Review Summer 2012 The Community Review 27
Bargain BugsAre you careless with leftovers
and food dates?The Food Standards Agency is
reminding people not to take risks
with their food, even as budgets are
squeezed.
New research by the Food Standards
Agency (FSA) shows that
some people are taking
more risks with
food
safety
as
they try
to save money
and make their
weekly shop go further.
The research shows that nearly
all of us believe the cost of our
shopping basket has risen significantly
in the last three years, and half of
us are trying to make better use of
leftover food. Worryingly though, some
people are ignoring Use By dates more
than ever, while others are keeping
leftovers in the fridge for longer than
they should be.
Bob Martin, a food safety expert at the
FSA, says: “With most of us seeing
our weekly shopping bills increase over
the last few years, we are all looking
for ways to get the most out of our
shopping budget.”
The research indicates people are
risking food poisoning by ignoring Use
By dates on food more than ever.
Supermarkets drastically reduce the
price on food nearing their use by
dates, but this date stamp on chilled or
ready-to-eat food packaging is the most
important date to check, since foods
can rapidly become unsafe after this
date.
The other dates marked on packaging
focus less on food safety so can
be a bit more flexible. Best Before
dates only relates to food quality and
appearance, and Display Until
dates are there to help
stores manage their
stock
Bob
Martin
says:
“These
dates provide
helpful information
on how long food will stay safe, so it’s
very important you stick to the Use By
date.
“It’s tempting to just give food a sniff
to see if it’s gone off, but bugs like E.
Coli and Salmonella don’t cause food
to smell. Food could look and smell
fine but still be harmful.”
Every year there are around a million
cases of food poisoning in the UK,
and anyone who has been unlucky
enough knows how unpleasant that
can be. The numbers rise during the
summer with around 120,000 extra
cases between June and August. One
of the reasons for this spike is warmer
temperatures causing germs to grow
faster on our food. That is why it is
so important to get leftovers in the
fridge quickly.
Bob Martin says: “Using leftover food
is a good way of making our meals
go further. However, unless we’re
careful, there’s a chance we can
risk food poisoning by not storing
or handling them properly. We are
encouraging people to view their
fridge as their friend and make the
most of leftovers whilst staying safe.”
The FSA has provided advice on how to deal with leftover foodIf they are going in the fridge, cool
leftovers as quickly as possible and
ideally within 90 minutes. Cover them,
refrigerate and eat them within two days
Make sure your fridge is at the correct
temperature – below 5єC.
You can also freeze leftover food, but
cool them first to ensure the freezer
temperature doesn’t rise by placing
hot food in there. Food quality still
deteriorates in the freezer with time, so
it’s best to eat them within three months.
Defrost frozen leftovers thoroughly before
use. If you’re cooking straight away use a
microwave. If you don’t have one you can
defrost them in the fridge overnight.
Eat leftovers within a day of defrosting
and don’t refreeze them again. The
exception here is raw food, such as meat
or poultry, which can be refrozen once it’s
cooked.
Make sure leftovers have been cooked
thoroughly and are steaming hot
throughout before consuming