One in three Brits has out of date food in their fridge, it has been revealed. Researchers, who polled 2,019 adults, found millions of us have cheese, jars of curry sauce, yoghurt or eggs which are long past their best.
Others admit to having milk, open tins of beans, fruit and meat that should have been eaten days or even weeks ago.
A staggering half of Brits even said they would be prepared to serve ‘out of date’ food to their guests.
The findings were discovered amid the publication of the first ‘National Fridge Audit’ by Beko home appliances.
Teresa Arbuckle of Beko Plc, who carried out the poll, said: ”Our survey reveals that we are a nation who judge each other on the contents of our chiller.
”So it is surprising to learn that so many of us are running on empty where our food is concerned, almost a third of people saying their fridge usually contains the bare minimum to get them through the week.”
The study also found a surprising three quarters of us would be happy to trust our nose and judgement with a quick ‘sniff test’ before eating food past its ‘use by’ date (mostly because two thirds of us see this as ‘just a guide’).
The study also found that one in 10 Brits argue with their partner on whether things should be refrigerated.
Over half wrongly believe eggs have to be kept in the fridge, while over 40% think that jam, marmalade, honey and ketchup should be kept cooled despite being fine to be stored at room temperature.
One fifth even admitted to judging others’ lifestyle choices by the contents of their fridge, with some thinking that budget brands throughout a fridge made a person ‘tight’.
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TOP TEN OUT OF DATE ITEMS
1. Cheese
2. Jar of curry sauce
3. Yogurt
4. Eggs
5. Milk
6. Open can of beans
7. Fruit
8. Bread
9. Meat
10. Fish
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[half]
TOP 10 FRIDGE INVADERS
1. Eggs
2. Jam/marmalade
3. Honey
4. Onions
5. Garlic
6. Bread
7. Potatoes
8. Bananas
9. Dried Fruit
10. Tinned vegetables
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