Food & Water
Food & Water
By CumbriaCQ · Updated and source checked · Suggest a correction
Keep a small reserve of food your household normally eats and drinking water you can store safely. You do not need specialist survival meals to prepare for a short disruption.
Three days of ordinary food
Choose ready-to-eat, shelf-stable food that fits your household's dietary needs. Plan meals rather than an arbitrary number of tins. Include a manual tin opener and remember pets.
Use the food shopping and rotation guideDrinking water and additional needs
Current Be Ready guidance recommends 3 litres per person per day for drinking, for 3 days. Cooking, washing, pets and other needs require additional planning.
Plan safe water storageKeep the reserve usable
Store food as its label requires, put new purchases behind older ones and replace what you use. Use-by dates concern safety; best-before dates mainly concern quality. A smell test does not make food past a use-by date safe.
During a power cut, keep fridge and freezer doors closed and use current Food Standards Agency power-cut advice. Do not turn an outdoor barbecue or camping stove into an indoor cooking solution.
Small home, small steps
Split supplies across suitable cool storage spaces without blocking exits. Smaller water containers can be easier to move than one large container. Work towards a reserve gradually and check support from your water supplier if you may need help during an outage.
Your next step
Sources and further reading
Source links were checked for this update. Official instructions and manufacturers’ guidance take precedence. How these guides are prepared.