Wasting food is wasting money. Here’s how to keep food fresh and throw away less cash

Spoiled food spoils my mood. So here's how to keep your fruits, vegetables and other foods fresh.Illustration by Andrea Levy, Advance Local; Shutterstock images

CLEVELAND, Ohio — With rising prices and tight budgets, it pays to look for cheaper groceries. But if the lettuce you bought spoils in the back of the fridge, it (and the money you paid for it) might be going in the trash can. It doesn't have to.

Food waste is a huge problem that contributes to food insecurity and climate change. The USDA says one-third of all available food goes uneaten.

All of that waste isn't happening in people's kitchens. But even on a smaller scale, allowing food to spoil or go uneaten can hurt your budget.

It happens in all sorts of ways. Heavy cream that goes sour. A green sprout emerging from an onion. Parsley getting lost in the fridge. Over-ripe bananas. Dried-out brown sugar. Leftovers that keep getting left. And why do we have three bottles of ketchup in the fridge?

Waste is more common than you think. Despite my personal vendetta against wasting money, I let food waste happen often.

That's why I spoke with Jennifer Lobb, a registered dietitian and an educator at the Ohio State University's extension office in Franklin County. With her expertise, and the many resources she sent me, we can all throw less money in the trash.

Every food item is different, but here are the broad strokes.

Trying to reduce food waste? Start with meal planning.

Lobb's No. 1 piece of advice for avoiding food waste is to start meal planning. She said people often buy excess when they visit the store, whether they’re buying too much food or food they don't plan on using.

Planning your meals for the week and getting a list of the ingredients you need can help fix that.

"If you are buying what you are planning to use for your meals, that will help cut down a lot of the excess," she said.

Shop your fridge (and keep track of what you have)

Another source of food waste is buying something that's already in your fridge or pantry. Or, not making use of the ingredients on hand.

Lobb says it's a good idea to shop in your house first. Take your grocery list, search your refrigerator and pantry, and make sure you don't already have what you’re about to buy.

You may say, "Oh, what a simple tip that won't work." So, did I. And then I looked in my fridge, and found out it really does work.

Cook once a night with what you have

Just like shopping in your house first, regularly cooking with what you have on-hand will force you to use up what you have. Try to have a "fridge-day" once a week or every few weeks.

Pro tip, most things go well in fried rice.

Consider buying frozen instead of fresh

If you have a habit of wasting food or live in a smaller household and can't use items quick enough, Lobb recommends leaning toward non-perishables like frozen vegetables.

Frozen fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as the unfrozen stuff on store shelves, Lobb said. It can even be better, depending on when it was frozen.

The short-explanation is that flash-freezing done by food companies, which involves using really cold temperatures to quickly freeze something, does a pretty good job of preserving quality. And it can be done right when food is harvested.

While the "fresh" item is traveling and ripening on a truck, decay is paused on frozen items.

All this is to say that frozen peas for dinner, or frozen berries for your smoothies, are fine alternatives.

Don't know how to store a fruit or vegetable? How did you find it?

There are pages of information about the best way to store food. But Lobb said one question is good to keep in mind. How was it kept at the store you bought it from?

If it was refrigerated at the grocery store, like cabbage or mushrooms, keep it cold at home.

If it was unrefrigerated, like a tomato or an orange, keep it at room temperature.

There are caveats. You should keep an avocado or peach on the counter until it turns ripe, and then extend its life in the refrigerator for a few days. You shouldn't do this with all ripening fruits.

Herbs, like parsley or basil, can be stored in a vase of water like cut flowers.

Expiration dates

Most expiration dates have to do with peak quality, rather than spoilage. Lobb said there's a lot of research that goes into those dates, and sometimes food can go bad before the expiration date, but in general you should use your senses to determine if something has gone bad.

"It's not a safety indicator," Lobb said. "It's not that it magically turns bad on that date."

No one wants to be known as the "eat expired food guy." That includes me. But, most of the dates you see printed on food are about quality and not safety, said Brian Roe, a professor and Ohio State and expert on food quality.

For uncooked foods, like certain lunchmeats or cheeses, the printed date is close to the last day you should use them. But for foods that are cooked, shelf-stable or pasteurized, the date is usually not the day the food goes bad. Treat the date as a reminder to use that food soon.

According to the USDA, except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product's safety and are not required by federal law.

Keep some things away from sunlight

Some vegetables, including garlic, onions and potatoes, will try and keep growing if you let them sit in sunlight. After a while they may sprout or grow eyes. So, keep them in a dark, cool place.

Other items, like spices or cooking oils, can also lose flavor or go bad if left in the sunlight.

Store food where you can see it

When you put food in the fridge, keep items in the front and in clear containers so you can see them.

Lobb said any clear bag or container is fine, even the bag you got from the grocery store. Some items, like lettuce, do better when in a sealed container.

Companies do sell specialized mesh bags and containers that are supposed to keep food fresher. Lobb said there isn't enough evidence that they work to justify the investment.

Another tip, consider prepping the food before you put it in the fridge. Having pre-cut ingredients for whatever you’re making can make using the items much easier, Lobb said.

Don't do that with something like onions, which get stronger (and smellier) as time goes on.

What's the best way to freeze things?

Freezing food is a great way to preserve it, but make sure it's in the right kind of container.

Lobb said to use a container designed for the freezer, preferably something that is airtight and keeps vapors and odors away from your food.

Think freezer bags — usually thicker and have a better seal — over sandwich bags.

The vacuum-sealed bags work well because of their thick plastic and the airtight seals they create, Lobb said. The worst thing to use is a container not meant for the freezer, like butter container you’re reusing.

You can also wrap foods in heavy-duty aluminum foil or freezer paper.

Contact with air can make the fats in food go bad over time. When freezing meat, it's important to get as much air as possible out of the freezer bag.

When you thaw something, you generally have a few days to cook or eat it.

What food can be frozen?

Most foods can be frozen, Lobb said. You can probably use your freezer more than you think.

The foods that don't work in the freezer usually have a high-water content, like lettuce or cucumbers. But something like a bell pepper, bananas, berries — even an avocado — is fine.

But, texture changes in the freezer. When a food freezes the ice crystals can break down cell walls, so the fruit or vegetable could be mushier when it thaws. This is much less prevalent with the flash-freezing done to the foods you buy at the store, but your freezer does not get as cold.

Lobb said you wouldn't thaw most food and then eat it raw. But frozen fruits and vegetables are great for cooked dishes — like a stir-fry, baked good or smoothies.

Freezing won't make you lose nutrition.

"Nutritionally, all the nutrients are locked in," Lobb said. "You’re not really losing any nutrition by freezing your items."

My freezer, for example, has about 20 bell peppers in it right now. It may have helped if I blanched them first, at least according to Ohio State.

How long can you freeze things for?

Freezing food will keep it safe and good-to-eat for a long time, but not forever. Ohio State's extension office has more information about each food and how long you can freeze it for.

I am not a scientist, and will not try to explain why food spoils. But the short story is that freezing inactivates any bacteria, yeast or molds in the food. It slows down but does not completely stop enzymes, which can change food over time.

This is why Ohio State recommends blanching vegetables before freezing them, because it can stop enzymes.

Also, the longer something sits, the more likely it’ll get freezer burn.

These time recommendations are also about quality, just as much as safety. Here are some examples.

Ground meat can be stored for three to four months. Meat cut into steaks or left as a roast could last for six months to a year if properly stored. Something like bacon or hotdogs should only be frozen for one to two months. Shellfish can be stored for three months.

Butter can be frozen for a year, but yogurt and ice cream last for one-to-two months. Vegetables, whether commercially frozen or frozen at home, can last for eight months.

Cookies could be frozen for eight months to a year, but cookie dough should only be frozen for three months. Cooked rice can last six months, and herbs could be frozen for one to two years.

How long can leftovers last?

If you made a big dinner, or spent Sunday cooking lunch for the week, how long can you keep food in the fridge?

Lobb said there's some gray area, but you could store cooked food in the refrigerator for about three to five days. It is sort of a question of individual risk versus benefit.

A healthy person may like the convenience of having five days of food ready to eat. Someone who has a compromised immune system may not want to take that risk, Lobb said.

Refrigerators tend to dry out food over time, so a dish like chicken breast and rice may just be dried out after five days.

You can also freeze cooked meals. Like anything else, use a container designed for the freezer. Lobb suggested freezing food in the portions you plan to eat. Whether that's a single bowl of soup for lunch or a family meal.

Like raw food, thawing out cooked food can make it mushy.

Here is some more information you should read that gets into the details.

Freezing Basics from OSU ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-5341 and freezer storage ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-5402.

How to store fruits and vegetables from Purdue University rb.gy/eupect

Pantry storage guidelines from OSU https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-5401

Food safety guidelines foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/4-steps-to-food-safety

How long stuff lasts in the refrigerator foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts

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