Hellmann's New Smart Jar Solves A Major Mayonnaise Problem

There are many ways that you can reduce the amount of waste you create around the kitchen. You can save your veggie and fruit scraps to toss into a backyard composter, take inventory of the contents of your fridge and pantry before you grocery shop so that you don't overstock, or make the most of your leftovers. According to Feeding America, 39% of all food waste happens around the home, which can equate to nearly 42 billion pounds of product. Whatever you do to conserve food in your home can not only make every meal and snack last, but it can also help to save you money throughout the year.

In an effort to spread awareness of food waste and help the community to conserve its edibles, the United Kingdom has made the time between March 6-12, "Food Waste Action Week," partnered with the charitable organization WRAP and Love Food Hate Waste. With tips and tricks on how to make every meal stretch and what to do with your leftovers before they spoil, they hope to build confidence in every household and put an end to needless wastefulness. In solidarity with this effort, major mayo brand Hellmann's has stepped up with an innovative idea on how to stop spoilage in your fridge before it happens.

Teaming up with Love Food Hate Waste, Hellmann's UK wants to make everyone aware of how the temperature in their fridge could be causing major food waste in the home. Apparently, if your refrigerator is set to a temperature of 7°C or 44.6°F, then this could be causing your food items to spoil faster. Simply bumping down the temp to 4°C, could ensure that your products last an additional three days, as per their website. To help folks out, Hellmann's has released a special smart jar with a label made of thermal-sensitive graphics designed by illustrator Ellen Porteus, that reveal themselves when your fridge reaches 5°C. This will help to make folks instantly aware of whether their fridge is set to ideal food-saving levels.

Senior Marketing Manager of Hellmann's, Rachel Chambers, stated via The Herald, "At Hellmann's, we're constantly looking to help consumers reduce food waste and save money and think 'smart jar' is an innovative way to get people talking about — and solving — this massive problem." The brand has also created a handy list of helpful leftover food recipe ideas on its website that serves to further help inspire people to gobble up their fridge contents so that they don't end up in the trash.