Quarter of young people are making the same dangerous food storage change to save money

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Official data from the Food Standards Agency show the number of young people taking dangerous measures to cope with rising energy costs – which campaigners say is “beyond messed up”

Almost a quarter of young people resorted to turning their fridges off to save money in December, shocking new government research suggests.

New data from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) reveals the number of young people taking dangerous measures to cope with rising costs has more than doubled in just one year.

The most alarming finding shows that 24% of young people (aged 16–34) reported turning off fridges containing food in December 2024, up from 11% in December 2023 – more than doubling in just twelve months.

Dale Vince, campaigner and founder of Ecotricity said the statistic was “beyond messed up”. He said: “It’s not just older people living with fuel poverty. The fact that young people are switching off their fridges because they can’t afford the electricity is shocking.

“This is a serious food safety issue, especially with animal products – where deadly bacteria proliferate rapidly without proper chilling. We often hear about older people having to choose between heating and eating, this an entirely new consequence of high energy bills.”

Among those over 35, there was no increase in the number of people turning off their fridge or freezer to save cash.

Overall the number of young people taking actions to reduce their energy bills increased compared to last year – while people over 35 showed little or no change over the same period.

Some 54% of young people said they’d used cheaper cooking methods instead of an oven – while 28% said they’d lowered the cooking temperature to save money.

Another 27% of 16-34 year olds had increased the temperature of a fridge or freezer, so food was being kept at a warmer temperature – an increase from 12% the year before.

And 22% of the same age group said they had eaten food cold because they could not afford to cook it – an increase from 12% in December 2023.

Mr Vince added: “We’re not talking about luxury items. We’re talking about keeping food safe to eat.

“When did we decide it was okay for our young people to choose between safe food and warm homes? If this doesn’t wake people up to how broken our system is, I don’t know what will.”