SIX TRICKS TO STOP FOOD GOING BAD

1 Berry bath

Wash your berries in a diluted vinegar bath before rinsing, drying them on paper towels and storing in the fridge. This can kill any lingering bacteria and mould spores and extend their shelf life.

2 Crisp celery wrap

Keeping celery in its loose plastic bag can cause it to go limp. This is due to the release of the ripening hormone ethylene. Over time this gets trapped in the bag, building up to become over-ripe. Wrap celery in foil instead, which allows the hormone to be released.

3 Tomatoes out the fridge

Tomatoes that are kept in the fridge can lose their flavour and become slightly too soft in texture. For the freshest, most flavoursome tomatoes, keep them in the cupboard.

4 Onion and potato enemies

You should store your potatoes away from onions if you want to keep them for a while. Next to each other, the ethylene gas released by onions will cause potatoes to sprout prematurely.

5 Plastic-free mushrooms

When mushrooms go bad, the water they release encourages bacterial and fungal growth, producing a slimy covering on their surface. If you remove the container they’re sold in and wrap them in paper, this can absorb some of the excess moisture.

6 Separate bananas

Being connected in a bunch makes bananas ripen at the same time. As you are unlikely to eat the whole bunch at the same time, separating them helps to avoid them all going brown together.