Kiwis are keen for restaurant doggy bags

Kiwis are keen for restaurant doggy bags

Would you be brave enough to ask for a doggy bag?

New research reveals that 87% of Kiwis would love to be offered a doggy bag if they couldn’t finish their meal, but only 5% of us, when actually faced with a half-eaten meal, have ever been brave enough to ask.

Recently a restaurant in Kapiti has banned doggy bags citing health and safety concerns. Yet nowhere in the New Food Act 2014, which came into force in March this year, does it prevent restaurants from offering doggy bags due to potential health and safety issues.

In Scotland they have been running a Good to Go doggy bag trial where participating restaurants have been able to reduce their food waste by 40%. In France they have passed a law making it illegal for restaurants not to offer doggy bags.

So is it that we Kiwis don’t have such strong stomachs as the French and Scottish? Or is it a case of a restaurant being overly cautious?

With any leftovers the key is knowing how to store them and how long they keep for.

At Love Food Hate Waste we follow the 2/2/2 rule:
– 2 hours to get your leftovers into the fridge
– 2 days to eat them
– they will last for up to 2 months in the freezer

So New Zealand, if your eyes were bigger than your stomach or that side of fries was too much, don’t overeat and stretch those jeans, nor let your leftovers contribute to New Zealand’s huge food waste issue –  just be brave and ask your restaurant if they can package the leftovers to go.

We would like to applaud the many restaurants around the country who do offer doggy bags, especially Lone Star who include food safety information on their takeaway container.