The Swedish National Food Agency tightens the recommendation

Just in time for International Food Waste Day, the Swedish National Food Agency is tightening its recommendation for the temperature in refrigerators in households around Sweden to avoid unnecessary food waste.

Previously, the recommendation from the Swedish Food Agency was that the correct temperature in the refrigerator should be a maximum of 8 degrees. The Swedish Food Agency then recommended that a normal temperature in the refrigerator should be 5 degrees when measuring the cooling temperature. The refrigerator temperature is measured in the middle of the refrigerator by placing a bowl of water with a thermometer in it to get an idea of the temperature of your refrigerator.

+4°C is a new recommendation

The Swedish National Food Agency is now tightening the recommendation for the temperature in refrigerators for food storage and lowering it by 1 degree to +4°C. This should reduce food waste to a large extent, as the shelf life of food increases at this temperature.

This can be read in the Swedish National Food Administration's press release:

– In our latest consumer survey, just over 4 out of 10 people answered that they have 3-5 degrees in the refrigerator. At 4 degrees, food stays fresh for about twice as long as at 8 degrees, so if more people lowered the refrigerator temperature to 4 degrees, they would have more time to cook and eat their food, which would probably lead to reduced food waste, says Karin Fritz, food waste expert at the Swedish National Food Agency.

This new recommendation was carefully released in conjunction with the ”celebration” of World Food Waste Day.

Food Waste Day September 29

World Food Waste Day was established by the United Nations to raise awareness of global food waste and its impact on sustainable development. The day has been celebrated since 2020 and aims to raise awareness about how much edible food is thrown away each year and to promote measures to reduce this waste.

+0°C even better

Modern refrigerators have effective temperature control and in many models there is also the possibility of further extending the shelf life of food by offering storage in zones with temperatures just above "zero". At +0°C the shelf life of stored fresh food is extended even further. These refrigerators are available from most suppliers and can be found under various concepts such as Zero Zone, PerfectFresh, Vita Fresh etc. Many modern refrigerators also have the possibility of regulating the humidity in the storage drawers, which contributes to an even longer shelf life of the stored food.

Time to upgrade the refrigerator at home?

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