How to keep your veg fresh for longer
We often get asked about buying and storing vegetables to avoid cross contamination and food waste.
So we’ve put together our top tips to help you keep your vegetables fresh and safe to eat.
When shopping
- Choose fruit and vegetables that aren't bruised or damaged.
- Keep fruits and vegetables separate from raw meat, poultry and seafood in your shopping bags.
- If you are worried about Covid-19 and grocery shopping, here's some advice and information
When you get your shopping home
- Store any fruits and vegetables that you cut, peel, or cook in the fridge within two hours.
- Store any fruit and vegetables labelled 'keep refrigerated' or with a ‘use by’ date in the drawers at the bottom of your fridge and follow the ‘use by dates’. Here's more information on storing food in the fridge
- Keep unwashed raw fruit and vegetables separate from ready-to-eat food during storage and preparation.
- Potatoes and sweet potatoes should be stored in a cool dark place like a cupboard. Other vegetables like carrots and other root veg, don't need to be chilled.
- If you feel you won’t eat fresh vegetables in time you can always keep them in the freezer for later – here’s more information about how to freeze vegetables
Preparing vegetables
- Wash your hands, kitchen utensils, and surfaces, including chopping boards and countertops, before and after preparing fruits and vegetables.
- Wash fruits and vegetables under running water before eating, cutting or cooking them, unless the package says the contents have been washed.