I HAD to smile when I read that diners at restaurants were being urged to take home doggy bags of food they left.

It’s part of a campaign to cut waste.

But do we really want to go the American way? My late mother-in-law Pat lived in the States where dining out is more normal than dining at home and wherever she went she would always bring back a doggy bag so she could ‘nuke’ it later.

Of course, nothing she brought home ever went near the microwave. It just filled the fridge.

In a study 25% of Brits say they would be too embarrassed to ask for a doggy bag and it does not appear to be a habit that will catch on in the UK, thank goodness.

I would hate to have a fridge like Pat’s.