Make this most of your leftovers this Christmas

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s Environmental Health team wants to help the public cut down on food waste this Christmas.

As part of a festive campaign from the Food Standards Agency, the Causeway Coast and Glens Environmental Health team is promoting a less wasteful Christmas.

Cooking is often seen as one of the most stressful parts of Christmas by many, so the council is offering guidance and advice can help to overcome that. The Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Alderman Maura Hickey, said: “Christmas is a time of year when we seem to throw away more than normal. I hope our residents take on board the advice that is available to them which should help us become a less wasteful society.”

The Council's advice hopes to encourage people to make the most of festive leftovers.  For example, leftover turkey usually ends up in sandwiches or as a curry but Environmental Health would like to see more people freezing leftovers, to use at a later date 

However, the advice doesn't come without a warning.  The Council are want people to 'make sure warm dishes are left to cool first and place the food in an air tight container or wrap it well in freezer bags, freezer wrap or cling film.'

Furthermore, a Council Spokesperson said  people should also divide food into portion sizes which means you can then defrost what you need.  Adding that all freezer food should be well labelled and dated.

More advice can be found on the Council's website.