When we shop, we never buy anything with the intention of throwing it away.
Still, there are times when the food destined for our stomachs winds up in the bin. (Hopefully the green waste or compost bin, if you have one!)
Sometimes it's an oversight, perhaps forgetfulness about what you actually have in the fridge, sometimes life just gets in the way of your meal plans.
But it can also come down to confusion about the best way to store your food so it stays fresher for longer.
It's inevitable that some food will go off before you get to it, but there are ways to delay the decay and reduce the cost to the environment and our pocket.
If you're in the dark about storing food, here are some mistakes to avoid if you want to make the most of your grocery shop.
1. Not making the most of your freezer
Yes, your fridge keeps most things fresh, but your freezer can keep some items fresher for much, much longer.
We all know about freezing meat and fruit such as bananas, but did you know that you can also freeze nuts to extend their life?
Nuts can go rancid quickly once opened, but they're perfect for freezing
Fiona Mair, CHOICE kitchen expert
"Nuts are expensive and can go rancid quickly once opened, but they're perfect for freezing," says CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair.
She suggests storing nuts in an airtight container and using them straight from the freezer as needed. Fennel, poppy and sesame seeds can be stored and used in the same way.
Got some tomato paste, stock, coconut milk or coconut cream left over from cooking? Pop it in the freezer too so it doesn't go to waste.
2. Neglecting your bread
Putting food in the fridge helps it last longer, right? So it makes sense that your instinct is to refrigerate your bread.
While storing your loaf in the fridge will help delay it turning mouldy, it'll also become stale much faster: the starch recrystallises quicker, which will make it turn hard.
While storing your loaf in the fridge will help delay it turning mouldy, it'll also become stale much faster
In temperate areas, keep your bread in a paper bag on the bench. (Storing bread in a plastic bag on the bench will encourage mould, so paper is a better option.)
If you live in a tropical area, this is obviously a recipe for a mouldy loaf. But even in humid environments, the fridge isn't the best place for your bread: you're better off freezing it and defrosting slices as needed.
Of course, every loaf is destined eventually to go stale – but that doesn't mean you can't use it.
Whizz it in a food processor and freeze the crumbs for making schnitzels, or chop into chunks, drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven to create crunchy croutons for salads.
Setting your fridge and freezer to the wrong temperatures can be fatal to fresh food.
3. Setting your fridge to the wrong temperature
Fix that stat, stat! Food will spoil at a faster rate if your fridge is set to the wrong temperature.
Too cold and you'll be finding frost-bitten food shivering in the depths of the fridge. Too warm and bacteria could proliferate, creating a food poisoning risk.
Food will spoil at a faster rate if your fridge is set to the wrong temperature
"The optimal temperature to set your fridge to is 3°C," says CHOICE fridge expert Denis Gallagher.
"Bacteria thrive at temperatures between 5 and 60°C, and the Australian Standard for fridges stipulates an average temperature of 3°C for the fresh food temperature compartment.
"It's a good number to aim for because it ensures the temperature won't creep up to the 'danger zone', but it's not so cold that your food will freeze."
Our fridge and freezer temperature guide will help you find the right setting.
4. Having an untidy fridge
We've all had the unpleasant experience of discovering last month's curry skulking in the back of the fridge. But there are also a couple of other reasons why a neat fridge is a good fridge.
First, if it's overloaded with food, finding things is like a scavenger hunt and leaving the door open while you locate the mayo wastes energy and money.
If air can circulate easily throughout the fridge, it'll do its job much better and more efficiently
Second, if air can circulate easily throughout the fridge, it'll do its job much better and more efficiently.
And of course, keeping it neatly stocked will hopefully mean that tzatziki you bought last week won't come back to haunt you.
Find the best fridge for your needs in our reviews.
5. Not knowing the difference between use-by and best-before
Some of us push the limits of food safety, while others chuck anything that's even a day beyond its best-before date.
But did you know that use-by and best-before are not the same thing? You should definitely heed use-by dates, as these products need to be eaten by a specified day – but best-before dates are different.
You should definitely heed use-by dates, but best-before dates are different
"Foods with a best-before date are less perishable, and this date gives a guide as to how long you can expect the food to keep its quality, rather than its safety," says Fiona.
"Food can be eaten and sold after this date and it'll often be perfectly acceptable."
So if you're chucking out items at their best-before date, you could be wasting perfectly good food and money.
Try a little tenderness: storing leafy herbs such as parsley and basil takes a little more thought.
6. Putting your herbs in water on the bench
Woody herbs can withstand a bit of rough treatment, but leafy varieties such as parsley and basil need more tenderness.
Fiona says they'll last longer if you wrap them in wet paper towel and pop them in an airtight container.
But if you've returned from the farmers' market with an oversupply of fragile herbs, you can always whip them into a pesto or salsa verde and keep them for a few weeks.
7. Storing eggs at room temperature
It's generally fine to keep your eggs on the benchtop, but they'll keep far longer in their carton in the fridge.
Although those plastic egg holders in your fridge may keep things tidy, it's better to keep your eggs protected in their cardboard, as it'll prevent them from losing moisture and absorbing fridge odours.
8. Keeping tomatoes in the fridge
Gorgeously fragrant fresh tomatoes will lose their aroma in the fridge, so keep them in a bowl on the benchtop, separate from other fruit and veg.
If they start to wrinkle up or slump a little, roast them with garlic and whizz them in a food processor to make a delicious, freezable pasta sauce. A tomato that's slightly past its prime and unlikely to be enjoyed fresh is excellent to add to a bolognese, curry or stew.
9. Having an underperforming, inefficient fridge
CHOICE experts have tested hundreds of fridges over the years and have found plenty of models that struggle to keep food fresh and are staggeringly inefficient – costing you potentially hundreds in wasted food and electricity over the appliance's lifetime.
If you have an old fridge that's past its prime or you don't do your research before purchasing a new model, you end up with a dud that hits you in the hip pocket (and leaves your lettuce wilting much faster than you would like).
We assess and score fridges based on their performance and efficiency, looking at factors such as temperature stability, how long they keep food fresh, 10-year running costs and more.
Check out CHOICE reviews to find the best fridge for your budget and household.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
