BFFF urges government to focus on frozen to meet food waste targets

Richard Harrow, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF), has urged the government to highlight the role frozen food can play in helping it achieve its ‘Step up to the Plate' food waste targets.

Harrow (pictured), speaking after last week's ‘Step up to the Plate' symposium at the V&A museum in London, which was co-hosted by environment secretary Michael Gove, said he felt frozen food was significant in reducing food waste.

"The scale of food waste in the UK is truly shocking and I firmly believe frozen has a vital role to play in waste reduction efforts, so I had no hesitation whatsoever in signing up to ‘Step up to the Plate'," he said.

Frozen food has a range of benefits, in terms of extending preservation and locking in nutrients, as well as enabling people to only use what they need, which in itself contributes significantly to reducing waste.

Gove said: "Together, we must end the moral, economic and environmental scandal of food waste. The UK is showing real leadership in this area, but I urge businesses to join me in signing the pledge so we can bring about real change.

"Every year, around 100,000 tonnes of readily available and perfectly edible food goes uneaten. It's time to join together and ‘Step up to the Plate' to stop good food going to waste."

Anyone can sign up to the ‘Step up to the Plate pledge by sending a signed copy of the pledge to events@stopfoodwaste.net