A health chief has issued a warning to members of the public to not turn off their fridges in an attempt to save money.
Dame Jenny Haries said that people should strive to keep their home's heating on "particularly those at the extreme ages of life". The chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) noted that she has heard of people switching their fridges off in an attempt to cut their energy bills.
However, she warned that this "creates the risk of infection in food". Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "I think one of the important things here is people recognise the importance of spending what will likely be for many people very limited resource on heating, because that is an essential part of their health.
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"We’re very aware of this, and I think I’ve heard anecdotally, for example, people turning off fridges – clearly that creates the risk of infection in food. So, it is really important people keep their fridges on and keep their heating on, particularly at the extreme ages of life.”
Food poisoning can become a severe issue when food items are not stored at the appropriate temperature. This is because cold temperatures help to prohibit the growth of bacteria with general advice stating that fridges should be kept at 4C.
UK public health advice also encourages people to keep their homes heated to at least 18C this winter as it "poses minimal risk to health" when residents wear suitable clothing. Fears around energy bills this winter are rising after experts predicted that they could skyrocket to £5,500 by next April.
Furthermore, gas prices spiked once again on Monday amid warnings that the average household could be facing an annual energy bill of £4,650 from January and £5,456 from April, according to energy consultancy Auxilione. On Tuesday, public health minister Maggie Throup told LBC radio that “if people are reassured about their own health, then it helps to take the pressure off some other concerns that they may have”.
Some tips to save money on your energy bill include switching off televisions and other devices at the mains rather than letting them remain on standby when not in use.
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