Rachael Davis
With food waste being a major problem that sees each person in the UK throw away 70kg of grub each year, it’s important to take steps to curb how much you’re producing.
Not only is it wasteful to buy food that you aren’t going to eat, especially with growing concerns around potential food scarcity caused by global weather events, but it’s bad for your wallet too.
It’s estimated that each household throws out £470’s worth of food each year in the UK, and in these cash-strapped times the impact of that financial waste is being felt more keenly.
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Measures you can take to reduce your food waste include planning your meals for each week, buying groceries on multiple days throughout the week to help ensure fruit and vegetables don’t go off before you get round to eating or cooking them, and managing portion sizes so you don’t load up your plate with more food than you need.
Another way to help food last longer is to ensure it’s stored properly. Checking which foods should and shouldn’t be kept in the fridge is worthwhile, as some foods can actually fare better in a cool, dark cupboard than in a fridge, and it’s also a good idea to set your fridge and freezer’s temperature to the optimal level.
In order to slow bacterial growth, which is ultimately the main benefit of storing food in a fridge, you need to have it set between 3°C to 5°C. This range also helps to maintain stored food’s nutritional value, flavour and texture.
White goods manufacturer Beko has also recommended that freezers are set at -18°C or lower to effectively halt bacterial growth and provide the best platform for long, unspoiled food storage.
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Some fridges and freezers have built-in displays showing the current internal temperature, but if yours doesn’t or you want to make doubly sure then it’s a good idea to leave a thermometer inside them for at least 12 hours to get an accurate reading.
Plus, that dial on your fridge gives a good indication of how cold it's running. Generally, a dial display of 0 means the cooling system is off, if it's set at 'minimum' or 1, that's the warmest setting, 2-4 is the recommended setting, and 'maximum' or 5 is the coolest.
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Now, another important factor to check is that the door seals are working properly. Fridges and freezers need a firm seal to ensure the internal conditions are easy to maintain, with a weak or damaged seal letting outside air in and thus making the motors work hard to maintain the right temperature.
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A simple way to check is with a slip of paper. All you need to do is close the door with the paper slipped between the seal, then give it a tug to pull it free. You should feel some resistance, and if the paper slips out easily then it’s a sign that the seals aren’t working properly.
If that’s the case, you can get door seals replaced via a local repair service or through your manufacturer’s warranty if it’s still active.