Nearly half of the edible fresh potatoes bought by UK householders each day are thrown away – nearly 2.7 million of them per day, and at a “staggering” annual cost of £230m, according to an article in The Guardian, a British daily newspaper.
The humble spud is the second most wasted food in the UK, behind bread, according to new official figures released on Wednesday. The new research was offered in support of a government campaign to encourage consumers to reduce their domestic food waste.
Although potatoes are still edible one wrinkly skins, green patches and “sprouts” are removed, many people in the UK still throw them out. This, according to Love Food Hate Waste, which is run by the government’s waste advisory body Wrap. Love Food Hate Waste’s new Save Our Spuds campaign aims to raise awareness of the vast scale of potato waste and its impact on the environment and wallets, as well as offering top storage tips, potato rescue remedies and recipe suggestions to use up potatoes before they go bad and are inedible. Correct storage can keep potatoes fresher for longer, it said, giving more time to come up with meal ideas to use them.
As part its £10m “waste less, save more” scheme to help households save money by cutting food waste, Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second largest supermarket last year launched new opaque packaging to prevent potatoes from turning green and developing a bitter taste.
