A HEALTH campaign to cut out food poisoning gets under way in Huddersfield next week.
And the message from health chiefs will be: Use leftovers wisely.
Experts fear that more and more families are using up leftovers in a bid to cut costs, but don’t always appreciate the health risks.
New research published 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 food go further.
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.
Kirklees environmental staff will be in the Queensgate Market next Friday to give advice on the safe use of leftovers.
Clr Peter McBride said: “Using leftovers is a good way of making the household budget stretch further but more care must be taken with storage conditions and the length of time over which the food is consumed.”
Bob Martin, a food safety expert at the FSA, 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.”
Advice includes:
If you are going to store leftovers in the fridge, cool them as quickly as possible, ideally within 90 minutes. Cover them, get them in the fridge and then eat them within two days.
Make sure your fridge is operating at the correct temperature, it should be below 5ºC.
