Fruit and veg waste

New findings from a WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) study into food waste show that 4.4 million whole apples are being thrown away, completely untouched, every day in the UK.

Apples, potatoes, bananas, tomatoes and oranges are the top five fruits and vegetables that get thrown in the bin. Not only does this cost consumers £3 billion each year, but it also adds hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste to landfill.

Love Food Hate Waste, WRAP's campaign to raise awareness of food waste, estimates that a third of the food we buy, or 6.7 million tonnes, gets thrown out annually from UK homes. And it's not just peelings - most of the wasted food could have been eaten. Fruit and vegetables constitute 40 per cent of unnecessary food waste, some of which could be avoided if people realise that fruit and vegetables can last up to two weeks longer if stored in the fridge, rather than at room temperature.

Dr Liz Goodwin, WRAP Chief Executive, comments: "These dramatic figures show that although we are all keen to do the right thing buying plenty of fruit and vegetables, the benefit is clearly being lost when food gets thrown out untouched."