AN expert has revealed the best way to store your fruit and vegetables – and it’s likely your fridge needs a big reorder.
Storing fruit and vegetables correctly doesn’t just ensure they stay fresher for longer – it can prevent the spread of bacteria and even make your meals taste better.
Robert Morris, managing director of food safety consultants, Complete Food Safety, has shared his top tips for keeping your produce at its best for longer.
He said: “Storing fruit and vegetables correctly is important for maintaining their freshness, flavour and nutritional value.
“Proper storage can extend the life of produce and help to avoid unnecessary food waste.”
Unsurprisingly, salad items should be kept in your fridge’s salad drawer to ensure they stay fresh for as long as possible.
But you shouldn’t just sling root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and beetroot in with them.
Mr Morris said: “Anything grown in soil is more susceptible to harmful bacteria, such as e-coli, so it’s always a good idea to store root vegetables away from ready-to-eat items like salad to avoid any contamination.”
When it comes to storage, leaving fruit and vegetables in supermarket packaging might help keep them fresh for an extra couple of days.
Similarly, wrapping the cut end of a cucumber or a half-eaten pepper could keep it at its best for longer by restricting air and moisture loss to slow spoilage.
And keeping soft fruits like raspberries and blueberries in breathable containers can help to keep them fresh for longer.
Mr Morris explained that berries need some air flow to prevent moisture build up which can lead to mould growth and spoilage.
There are items you should never keep in your fridge, and they might surprise you.
Mr Morris explained that tomatoes should be kept out of the fridge, for example, to avoid diminishing their taste.
He said: “If you store tomatoes in the fridge, you change the natural ripening process and you’ll affect the sugar level, so they won’t be as nice.
“If you cut them, that’s the point when they should then be in the fridge and they should be eaten shortly afterwards.”
Avocados and bananas also have no place in your fridge and can blacken quickly if you leave them chilling.
Potatoes are also best kept in a dark place, such as a cupboard, rather than the fridge, to prevent sprouting and spoilage.
They also contain high levels of starch, which can convert to sugar when chilled and increase the presence of the carcinogen acrylamide, which is toxic, when cooked at high temperatures.
Remember, keeping the right produce in the fridge will help to preserve it for longer, but not indefinitely.
Discoloration and changes in texture are clear signs that your produce is starting to decay.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to dispose of it as veg that’s slightly past its best can still be great for making stocks, soups and pickles.
Robert explains as long as your cooking, pickling or putting slightly soft produce through another process that will eradicate any bacteria, it should be fine for consumption. But, you should never use produce with signs of mould or a slimy texture.
His other tips for keeping your fruit and vegetables as fresh and safe as possible included making sure your fridge is clean and kept at about five degree Celsius.
Even if your storage is completely tip-top, Robert stressed that it’s important to always wash fruit and vegetables before eating them to ensure any foreign bodies or bacteria have been removed.
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your weekly supermarket shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
However, if the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or else make sure to freeze it immediately to eat later.
Making a list and sticking to it should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own-brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” lines.
Some supermarkets have named their cheapest brands. For example, Tesco has “Stockwell & Co” for tinned goods and “The Grower’s Harvest” for fruit and veg.
Plenty of supermarkets also run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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