You’ve been storing your veg all wrong – and it could be costing you £470 a year

THE UK throws away approximately nine million tonnes of food in a year.

With the cost of living continuing to rise, everyone is looking to save money where they can.

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According to Business Waste, the average UK family wastes over £470 worth of food every year.

Budget expert Natalia Lachim from Discount Code shares her top tips on how to make you veg last longer.

But first it’s important to know your fridge. The drawers at the bottom of your fridge tend to be the most humid – making it perfect for fruits and vegetables.

The bottom shelf is also the coolest part of the fridge. Keeping in mind that the bottom shelf is the coolest and warm air tends to raise, it makes sense that the higher shelves tend to be warmer.

Each shelf is coolest towards the back, so anything you want to keep extra cool within its section can go there.

The middle shelves tend to be ideal for dairy products such as milk, cheeses, and yogurt as well as cooked and deli meats.

The door is also the warmest spot of the fridge as it’s the one place that’s always hit with room temperature air when you open the fridge – so think carefully when putting items with a shorter shelf life here.

The door is the ideal place for your water bottles, condiments and pickled items.

Potatoes

Over five million tonnes of potatoes go to waste every year in the UK.

Natalia said: “Keep potatoes in a cool, dark, and dry place. Don’t store them next to onions – onions produce high levels of ethylene gas, which causes nearby produce to ripen and spoil faster.”

Avoid storing in plastic bags which trap moisture. Instead, store the vegetable in a basket, paper bag or bowl to allow for air circulation.

Bread

Bread is best within two or three days. And 240 million slices are thrown away every year in the UK.

If you’re not going to eat a full loaf, Natalia recommends you put the extra slices in a paper bag or a reusable bread bag and store it in the freezer – then you can take out a few slices at a time, as and when you need them.

Like potatoes, store bread in a cool and dry area like a bread bin or in a cupboard.

Milk

Natalia recommends you store milk on the shelves of the fridge, where the temperature is cooler and more stable, rather than in the door where the temperate can fluctuate.

Five million glasses are thrown away every year due to improper cooling.

Milk can also be frozen for up to six weeks but remember to thaw it slowly in the fridge when you’re ready to use it.

Cheese

Over three million slices of cheese are thrown away every day in the UK.

Natalia said: “The vegetable compartment of a fridge is the ideal place to store cheese because it’s not too cold or humid.”

Cheese needs to be able to breathe so it doesn’t get sweaty or dry out.

Waxed paper or baking paper is best, as plastic or clingfilm can encourage mould to develop, and keep it in an airtight container to stop the smell from spreading to the rest of the fridge.

Apples

Over a million apples are thrown away every year.

Keep all apples away from bananas. Both fruits produce ethylene gas which can speed up the spoiling process.

Natalia said: “Store them in the fridge as they like humidity. It’s also worth keeping them in a plastic bag or cover them with a damp paper towel.”

Apples with stems last longer than those without – microorganisms will enter the apple through the detached stem and cause decay.

How can I slash my food bills?

Shopping around is a great first step – other supermarkets may have cheaper offers available.

It doesn’t have to be another supermarket either, as one savvy shopper managed to save over £200 on her food shop by taking a trip to the wholesalers instead.

You can also try planning your meals, or taking advantage of supermarket loyalty schemes.

And some supermarkets even have their own discount codes that you can snap up too.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk