Experts from UK potato supplier Branston are now saying that storing your potatoes in the fridge could make them last up to three times longer, for reduced household waste and expenditure amid the rising cost of living.
This newest piece of advice will enter the Food Standard Agency (FSA) legislation – replacing previous advice that said not to store your potatoes in the fridge but rather at room temperature.
With Brits apparently wasting more than 5.8 million potatoes per year, storing them in the fridge could both reduce this gross wastage and help savings within households as the cost-of-living crisis puts pressure on all households.
According to a recent report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) keeping your potatoes in the fridge could potentially save 100,000 tonnes of food waste per year.
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, while 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 in order to seriously tackle food waste in the home, which will also help save them money.”
Branston’s recipes include one for a Cornish filo pie (pictured)
She added: “Storing potatoes in the fridge should obviously be encouraged, but there are many other ways you can make them last, such as storing them in fabric or paper bags rather than plastic and making sure they are kept in the dark. Those coming towards their end-of-life can be cooked up and frozen into portions ready to use straight from the freezer.”
With that, Branston and potato enthusiasts Seasonal Spuds have teamed up to create recipe cards that offer you ideas for affordable, nutritious and potato-thrifty recipes.
As well as being downloadable online, the recipes will be delivered at summer cookery workshops in conjunction with GoGro CIC, a nationwide initiative teaching communities in need how to produce money and waste efficient meals at home.
To download Branston’s spud-saving guide, and for more recipe inspiration and tips on how to reduce food waste, visit Branston’s recipe website: www.seasonalspuds.com.
