Potato supplier, Branston, has supported the announcement by the Food Standard Agency (FSA) to help cut down on food waste, by consumers storing potatoes in the fridge.
Almost half a million tonnes of fresh vegetables and salad, and a quarter of a million tonnes of fresh fruit, worth a total of £2.1bn, are thrown away in UK homes each year because they are ‘not used in time’, with Brits wasting over millions of potatoes each year.
Research from Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has found that potatoes stored in the fridge can last more than three times as long compared with storing at room-temperature, having the potential to save 100,000 tonnes of food waste per year. It has now changed its guidance in accordance with their Love Food Hate Waste campaign.
Previous legislation advised consumers against the storage of raw potatoes in the fridge at home, as this could lead to the formation of additional sugars which can then convert into acrylamide when potatoes are fried, roasted or baked (See The Vegetable Farmer August page 13).
The recent study – which has been reviewed by the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) – has shown that home storage of potatoes doesn’t increase the acrylamide forming potential if stored in a fridge, making storing potatoes in the fridge therefore safe, whilst also extending their lasting period.
Lucia Washbrook, sales and marketing director at Branston said: “With the current climate emergency and the rising cost of living, we need consumers to make changes and follow guidance such as this in order to seriously tackle food waste in the home, which will also help save them money.”
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