The ten-minute pantry check that stops food going out of date

Most pantry food waste comes from one habit: new shopping goes in at the front, and the older jar of the same thing slides to the back until it is out of date. The fix takes ten minutes once and a few seconds after each shop. Pull everything forward, put the oldest at the front, and keep a short list of what needs using up.

Why the back of the shelf is where food gets lost

When you unpack a bag of shopping, the easy move is to push the new tins and packets in where there is space, which is usually the front. The next time you cook, you grab what you see. The older packet sits behind it, unseen, and you buy a third one because you forgot you had any.

Shops avoid this with a rule they call "first in, first out": older stock goes to the front so it sells first. It works just as well at home.

The ten-minute pantry check

Do this once, on a shelf at a time, so it never becomes a whole-weekend job.

1. Take everything off one shelf. Wipe it down while it is empty.
2. Group like with like. All the pasta together, all the tinned tomatoes together, all the spices together. Duplicates jump out straight away.
3. Check the dates. Look at the "use by" and "best before" dates as you go.
4. Put it back oldest in front. Within each group, the item with the nearest date goes at the front, the newest at the back.
5. Pull out anything to use soon and put it in one visible spot, such as a small basket at eye level.

Repeat for the next shelf another day.

Best before is not use by

On packaged food in the UK and many other places, "use by" is about safety: do not eat it after that date. "Best before" is about quality, and dry goods like pasta, rice, tins and flour are often still fine to eat for a while after it, as long as the packaging is intact. Check how it looks and smells before you decide.

That difference alone rescues a lot of food from the bin. A tin of chickpeas a month past its best before date is usually a dinner, not rubbish. Throw away any tin that is bulging, badly dented on the seam, leaking or rusty, whatever the date says.

Keep it working after every shop

The check only helps if the order stays. Two small habits keep it going:

• Unpack to the back. When you put new shopping away, slide the older items forward first and put the new ones behind them. It adds seconds.
• Look before you write the list. A quick glance at the pantry before you shop stops the third packet of lentils.

Turn the use-soon basket into meals

Once a week, plan one meal around whatever is in the basket. A half bag of rice, a tin of beans and a jar of passata is most of a chilli. If you end up making more than you need, freeze the leftovers flat and labelled so they get eaten too.

The same front-and-back logic works in the fridge; see how to store fruit and vegetables so they last longer. For other ways to cut food waste at the planning stage, read our five easy ways to waste less food at home.