SOUTH Lakeland District Council is giving away 100 fridge thermometers to highlight the importance of keeping leftover food safely.
This year’s National Food Safety Week is focusing on how people store food after a survey showed a rise in people ignoring use-by dates and keeping food longer.
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.”
There are around a million cases of food poisoning every year in the UK, with the most reports coming in the hotter months of June, July and August.
One of the reasons for this increase is that warmer temperatures cause any germs present to grow fast, which underlines the importance of getting leftovers in the fridge fast.
To collect your free thermometer, call into the council offices in Ulverston, Kendal, or Windermere between June 11 and 17.
