Research highlights food safety risks

New research published today by the Food Standards Agency shows that some people are taking more risks with food safety as they try to save money and make their food go further.

The research showed that across the UK most of those questioned (97%) believed the cost of their typical shopping basket has gone up significantly in the last three years, with half of these trying to make better use of leftover food.

However, some people are ignoring Use By dates more than they used to, while others are keeping leftovers for longer than the recommended limit of two days in the fridge.

Today is the start of Food Safety Week and the FSA is reminding people not to take risks with food safety, even as budgets are squeezed.

Rob Wilkins, a food safety expert at the FSA in Cardiff, said: '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.

"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. During Food Safety Week we are encouraging people to view their fridge as their friend and make the most of leftovers whilst staying safe."

There are around a million cases of food poisoning every year in the UK. The levels increase during summer months with around 120,000 extra cases of illness from June to August. One of the reasons for this increase is warmer temperatures causing any germs present to grow faster, which underlines the importance of getting leftovers in the fridge quickly.

Georgina Taubman, Waste Reduction Officer, at the Love Food Hate Waste Cymru campaign, said: "Making the most of the food we buy is increasingly important to us all especially with ever tighter household budgets, but we’re still unnecessarily wasting 20% of the food we buy. Food is there to be eaten, so this food safety week let’s enjoy our leftovers and do it safely."

According to the FSA’s research, people are also risking food poisoning by ignoring Use By dates more than they used to. Use By dates are the most important date on the food label. They are used on foods that can rapidly become unsafe such as chilled or ready-to-eat foods.

Researchers found that a third of people were more likely to judge when food is safe to eat by its smell, look or how long it’s been stored, rather than by the Use By date.

Rob Wilkins says: "Whilst people in Wales agree strongly that using leftovers is a good way to save money, they also tend to use personal judgement rather than Use by dates. It’s tempting to just give your food a sniff to see if you think it’s gone ‘off’, but food bugs like E.coli and Salmonella don’t cause food to smell off, even when they may have grown to dangerous levels. Food could look and smell fine but still be harmful."

"These dates provide helpful information on how long food will stay safe for, so it’s very important you stick to the Use By date. Other dates marked on foods focus less on food safety. The Best Before date relates to food quality and can be treated more flexibly, while Display Until dates are there to help shop staff to manage stock."