Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year

Abdul Abulbul Amir Sat Oct 19, 2013 2:00 pm

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Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-1A144ADD000005DC-591_306x406

Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-1A144ADD000005DC-591_306x406

Overshoppers: The study found that Brits are 'simply buying too much food'

Britain is a wasteful nation of overshoppers which throws away a staggering £15.1 billion worth of food every year, shock new figures have revealed.
A study of supermarket spending habits in the UK found that the average household is buying too much food, meaning we bin over £500 worth of groceries each year.
It was also claimed that nearly half of the country regularly throws away packets of food which are never opened.
The research, which is supported by green campaigners Lover Food Hate Waste, aims stinging criticism at wasteful Brits and their inability to be economic with basic shopping.
It said almost half of shoppers in the country do not fully understand how 'best before' dates work and 82 per cent of people don't know how to use their fridge compartments properly, meaning more food goes bad quickly.
As well as being uneconomic buyers of food, Brits were also said to be wasteful in the kitchen. The study revealed that around 46 per cent of those who cook a home meal will throw food away because they've prepared too much.
Researchers working on behalf of Samsung polled 2,000 UK consumers over the age of 18 who owned a fridge and contributed towards the food shopping in their households.

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In a revealing insight into British shopping habits, it was established that almost three quarters of Brits do a ‘big’ shop once a week, with 83 per cent of those admitting to topping up with fresh food between shops.
The foods that Brits believe they throw away most regularly are ready meals, fresh meat, milk and fruit juices, home made meals and diary items like cheese and yoghurt.

Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-0EF9AA3A00000578-608_634x389

Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-0EF9AA3A00000578-608_634x389

Waste: Three quarters of Brits do a weekly 'big shop' with a further 83 per cent of those buy more in the week

With a tiny proportion of those polled saying they measure food before they cook it, researchers sau that overbuying may not be as bad a problem if food were stored more efficiently.
But the vast majority of respondents admitted that they don't use fridge compartments for any kind of coherent storage system and only eighteen per cent of those polled have a strict system of storing food in their fridge-freezer.
Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-18D6768B00000578-786_306x423

Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-18D6768B00000578-786_306x423

Run down: The table, compiled by researchers at Samsung, shows Britain's most wasteful regions

The confusion over 'use by' and best before dates remains a problem, with almost half of people surveyed saying they don't know the difference.
The results a questionnaire showed that 45 per cent of the sample shoppers are not guided by the 'use by' date, which is the definitive guide of when a food be thrown away.

Instead, they get rid of groceries based on their ‘Best Before’ dates, even though food outside of these dates can often still be safe to eat if it they been stored properly.
As well as laying bare the nation's wastefulness as a whole, the study established the worst regions for being economical with their food with the West Midlands being named 'waste capital'.
The average household in the region estimates that they throw out £731.64 worth of food every year, almost 30% more than the national claimed average.
Lana Sanleandro, Head of Marketing for Samsung Home Appliances, said: 'Food wastage is a huge issue in the UK and something that every household contributes to, which this study clearly shows.

'But it's also something that everyone can do something about, whether that be through better management of the weekly shop, more preparation when making meals and simply by learning about the best conditions to store different sorts of foods.'
Emma Marsh, Head of Love Food Hate Waste added: 'There are simple steps we can all take to cut food waste, such as making better use of our fridges and freezers.'

Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-18D6780B00000578-52_634x913

Britain's most wasteful towns revealed as it emerges that £15.1billion worth of food ends up in bins every year Article-2467041-18D6780B00000578-52_634x913

Cities of shame: Aberystwyth is named the UK's most wasteful city in the damning survey of 2,000 Brits

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