Brits Bin £139m of Food a Week!
We’re all guilty of overspending when we visit the shops each week, seeing something we simply must have and then never even touching it only to see it thrown away later that week.
This happens so much that in just one week, as a nation, we bin £139m worth of food!
This isn’t something that we feel guilt-free about. Shockingly, 93 per cent of Brits have said they feel extremely guilty when they bin food.
Despite these feelings of guilt, research from Food Saver vacuum sealers show that we show little signs of changing our ways and still continue to over-shop when it comes to food.
Nearly four in ten of us admitted to throwing food away because we feel it’s lost its freshness or flavour despite the food still being in date.
A third of us said that we often forget about food that’s been pushed to the back of the fridge and 30 per cent of us admitted to cooking too much food and binning the left overs.
Worryingly, 62 per cent of us actually leave food to go mouldy in the fridge, forgetting it was there until it was too late.
Vegetables were the most squandered food with around a quarter of those bought from supermarkets finding their way to the bin.
The lettuce is the most wasted vegetable with a quarter of people throwing one away every week!
Mark Taylor, UK Marketing Manager for Food Saver says, “An awful lot of good quality and often expensive food is getting tipped into the bin every week. The reason people are feeling a sense of guilt is because they know it is avoidable.
“Planning meals in advance and storing food using a vacuum sealer gives you the ability to keep food fresh and full of flavour for up to five times longer than usual, so you don’t have to worry about ingredients and cooked meals not lasting.”
The most wasteful place in the UK is the East of England, where the average household budget is drained by £6.30 a week on wasted food, amounting to £107.64 more a year than the most frugal households in the South East.
Do you waste food in your household, if so how much would you say you threw away? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below or tweeting us @FemaleFirst_UK
Cara Mason
Tagged in food Food Facts Food Tips