Reducing food waste at home

Minimise how much food goes to waste

You can help reduce food waste by:

keeping track of use-by and best-before dates on food
freezing food
asking for a "doggy bag" for any food you don't eat at a restaurant
feeding pets and animals leftover food, as long as it is safe for them to eat it
donating surplus food.

However, also be aware there are some rules and guidance to follow to do these safely, including about feeding food waste to animals.

Know the date marks used on food

Date marks indicate how long food can be kept before it starts to deteriorate or becomes unsafe to eat.

Most packaged food with a shelf life of up to 2 years requires a date mark. The exception is for food products in small packages (like chewing gum), where there is no food safety concern.

The date marks are:

Use-by: A product after its use-by date can make you sick, even if the food appears to look, smell, or taste fine.
Best-before: Food may still be safe to eat after the date but it may have lost some quality.
Baked (Bkd) on or similar: Usually found on bread products with a shelf life of fewer than 7 days.

Foods with a shelf life over 2 years don't need to show a best-before date.

To reduce your food waste, keep track of food you have and their expiry dates. This will also help you with meal planning.

You may be able to freeze some types of food for later use. Check the food's packaging and label for guidance.

How to read food labels

Find out more about date marks – Food Standards Australia New Zealand

Storing and using leftover food

Refrigerate or freeze leftovers as soon as possible or within 2 hours of cooking. The hotter the weather, the shorter the time food will stay safe.
Divide large portions of hot food into smaller containers or a shallow tray to help it cool quickly and evenly, and to stop harmful bacteria from growing to levels that could cause illness.
Store leftovers in a covered container in your fridge.

How long you can keep them

Rice-based leftovers: Keep rice-based leftovers refrigerated and eat them within 2 days. These types of leftovers are risky because uncooked rice can contain bacterial spores that survive cooking. The spores then form bacteria, which produce toxins that cause food poisoning – and toxins are not destroyed by reheating.
Cooked food eaten cold: Leftovers of cooked meals that are normally eaten without reheating – like pasta salads, roast vege salads or potato salads – should be refrigerated and eaten within 2 days.
Leftovers eaten hot: Keep them refrigerated and eat them within 4 days. Reheat until piping hot before eating.
Leftover green salads: Eat salads containing raw leafy greens as soon as you can after preparation. Use any leftover salad as ingredients in cooked dishes - like soups and stews - or throw them out. Leafy greens can carry illness-causing bacteria that survive or grow in the fridge.
When in doubt, throw it out.

Reheating leftovers

Reheat leftovers until piping hot (over 75°C). Warm doesn’t kill bacteria. Hot does.
Defrost frozen leftovers in the fridge or microwave. Leaving meals on a bench top to defrost allows harmful bacteria to grow.
Don't reheat your leftovers more than once.

Getting doggy bags from restaurants

Taking leftovers home from a restaurant in a "doggy bag" (a takeaway container) is a simple way to reduce food waste.

Not all restaurants allow customers to take home food – it's up to each business. If you are allowed to take food away, you are then responsible for the safety of that food.

Feeding food waste to animals

Feeding leftovers or food waste to your animals can help reduce your food wastage. But you must make sure the food you give them is safe to eat.

The Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997 requires you to ensure that food is not spoiled or contaminated before feeding it to animals – so it won't make them sick.

Some foods, such as onions, can make cats and dogs sick even if not spoiled or contaminated. Talk to your veterinarian to find out which specific foods are safe and which are not.

The Animal Welfare Act 1999 also requires owners to meet the physical, health, and behavioural needs of their animals.

If you are feeding food waste to pigs, there are specific requirements to meet.

Feeding food waste to pigs and preventing disease

Using pet food, animal feed, and nutritional supplements

The Animal Welfare Act 1999 – NZ Legislation

Codes of animal welfare