Come on, be honest: what ends up languishing at the back of your fridge at the end of the week? 'Fess up about your most neglected foodstuffs to Unilever Project Sunlight - and be in with a chance to win £250 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Most of us make an effort to plan our shop and minimise food waste, but even with the best will in the world, all too often we end up with items left over - and the people from the Unilever Project Sunlight would like to know which are your repeat waste offenders. Is there a fruit that always gathers mould at the bottom of the bowl? Or what about the last spoonful of pasta sauce that you swore you'd use up? Are you afflicted by unconsumed anchovies? Stressed out by surplus celery?

Please share what - despite your best efforts - you find yourself regularly binning on kitchen clean out day. And just to even things up a bit, why not let us know which foods you'd rate as your enduring heroes: the ones that could sit happily on your shelves and emerge perfectly edible even in the event of a nuclear apocalypse ...

Add your comment to the thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a a £250 voucher for the store of their choice.

Please note your comments may be used by Unilever and MN on the web, social media channels and possibly elsewhere. Please only add your comment if you're happy for it to be used like this. All comments used will be anon.

thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Coleslaw- the option of buying smaller tubs would be good.
Bags of veg that are a bit bigger than I need, e.g. celery and leeks.
Milk. Always thrown out because we use so little.
Never cheese though!

Last couple of slices of bread, melons (they look lovely in the supermarket but I never get round to starting them before they go off!) and sour cream.

Natural yoghurt, half eaten humous, squishy tomatoes from the bottom of the veg draw, and coleslaw always coleslaw

Not much.
Probably plain yoghurt is what goes out the most, but thats probably only once a month.
Half packets of herbs that turn to slime.

The bread often doesn't make it through the week, but its not kept in the fridge.

Bagged salad
Spring onions
Jars of curry paste. I always use more than half the jar on one meal but still put the useless remnants in the fridge and forget about it!
Endless little Tupperware tubs with baked bean dregs.
Huuuge tubs of yoghurt - I'm always enticed by the larger tubs being better value but every time without fail I throw out 97% of the tub!

Bags of salad. I like eating it but never get through the lot. It goes limp so quickly!

Not much stays in our fridge to be honest.

I buy a cucumber every week.
I throw away a cucumber every week.
No idea why I continue to buy cucumbers on a weekly basis but I'm sure I'll be throwing out another one next week.

This makes me sound awful but it's always fruit that gets left. And cucumber - a full one is too big to use before it goes funny but a half cucumber is too small

On the other hand I've cheerfully eaten opened jars of pesto that have been lurking in the back of the fridge for ages. It's kind of green and kind of furry anyway so it would be impossible to tell whether it's gone off or not wouldn't it

I use the rest of the sour cream with pasta,chicken & fajita mix - lovely,you could also put the green pepper into it!

Always cucumber,can't seem to buy the half ones anywhere!

Half pots of things - cream, especially, but also ricotta, cottage cheese, tomato purée. These things should come in smaller portions!

Nothing.

Send your unloved cucumbers over here. We get through two a week and always run out.

For us it's always, always celery, carrots and potatoes. We like all of them and do eat them, but can't get through a whole bag before they go off.

Chopping up carrots and celery and freezing them for soffrito is a genius idea though - I'll be nicking that

Cabbage. It comes in my vegetable box and usually is a limp heap if I ever finish it, somewhat passed its expiry date.

And cream cheese. I use half, forget it, then have to throw it away covered in mould next time I remember it.

My heroes - olives, very easy ginger, tomato puree. Jars of curry paste.

i would say meats like ham and chicken always get thrown out as they always dont get used up coleslaw bags of salad which have wilted mushrooms also cheese which usually has mould on it there was some philadelphia cheese not long ago looked like it had only been used once there was a lump of mould in it so it had to be thrown out also i did find some rotten fruit in the bowl such as bananas apples which had gone squidgy and mouldy

Bags of salad usually end up being thrown away from our fridge, along with the stubby bits of cucumber and squishy tomatoes although I do try and use them in pasta sauces!

I always have a few packets of long life butter in the fridge and lots of vegetables. I find that keeping carrots in the fridge makes them last longer.

Stuff I throw out regularly

• leeks
• cream
• bread
• tomatoes
• fresh herbs (only buy frozen now – brilliant discovery and no waste)
• lemons
• pesto

Indestructible stuff that never seems to go off

• curry paste
• chilli sauce

Odd bits of veg, often things like part of a cauliflower, end of a cucumber. Parts of salad bags that have gone off and smell like seaweed. Bits of leftover cooked meat that I'd meant to use in sandwiches or whatever and either get chucked or fed to the dog depending on their age... Pesto (jar), goes furry and never seems to last very long.

Lives forever- stork marg for baking, it just separates a bit but is fine. And jam (yes we keep it in the fridge). Can never have enough eggs :)

Our wedding cake (remains of). Couldn't bring myself to throw it away until yesterday, our wedding was 4 months ago....

Half-used pots of cream or crème fraîche. I always intend to use them, but never get round to it. Also packets of herbs bought specifically for a recipe. I use the required amount, but again forget to use the rest. I did once see Jamie Oliver freeze left over herbs, but I forget exactly what he did.

clearly have a memory like a sieve!

Items lurking at the back of the fridge include - part bags of rocket / lettuce (never use them up quickly enough), ends of cucumber turning to mush, part of a pepper turning wrinkly, pate and cream.
Occasionally throw away sliced ham as change of plans (hot lunch at school / lunch out) means I do not make so many packed lunches.

Carrots and potatoes. We always buy them, and then the last of them goes off.
Cucumbers because they always get frozen at the back of the fridge

carrots!
I really have no idea what is happening but I always seem to be putting them into a bin.
I buy carrots to cook with and for the dogs. I don't think I buy way too many... they just don't last all that long and seem to go rotten way too fast.

Anything that is wrapped in foil is left as nobody knows what on earth is inside it, so it never gets touched from one day to the next. God help the unlucky soul who has to peel away the foil to investigate, if you see fur, it's best not to go any further.