FSA Study Finds People Risking Health To Save Money On Food

A new Food Standards Agency survey suggests that people are taking more risks with their food as finances become tighter.

Its survey of nearly 2,000 people across the UK suggested that people were trying to save money by making their food go further and that more than half were trying to make better use of leftover food.

This included ignoring use-by dates, as well as keeping leftovers in the fridge for long periods of time.

Bob Martin, a food safety expert at the Food Standards Agency, 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."

The number of cases of food poisoning peaks in the summer as the warmer weather means germs can grow at a quicker rate.

The FSA said a third of people were more likely to use the look and smell of food to see if it was safe to eat rather than the use-by date.

Mr Martin said: "It's tempting to just give your food a sniff to see if you think it's gone 'off', but food bugs like E.coli and Salmonella don't cause food to smell off, even when they may have grown to dangerous levels. So food could look and smell fine but still be harmful.

These dates provide helpful information on how long food will stay safe for, so it's very important you stick to the use-by date.”

(H/GK)