Plan meals before making a shopping list
- Count the people and days
List everyone who will eat, including children and anyone with a restricted diet. Include pets separately. The UK Prepare campaign suggests considering supplies for an emergency lasting a few days, but it does not set one food quantity for every household.
- Write familiar meals
For each day, note breakfast, a main meal and other food the household normally needs. Use this as a practical stock check, not as a calorie prescription.
- Mark the cooking requirement
Choose at least some meals that can be eaten without heating. Check whether the remaining meals need water, a working hob, fuel or refrigeration.
- Use the cupboard first
Check what is already at home before buying more. Add missing ingredients a little at a time and rotate them through ordinary meals.
Choose a useful mix
The UK Prepare campaign names non-perishable, ready-to-eat tinned meat, fruit and vegetables as examples, and reminds households to keep a tin opener. A practical cupboard might also contain familiar shelf-stable beans or pulses, cereal or crackers, fruit, and foods that make a complete meal when combined. Read each pack: some foods can be eaten cold, while others must be cooked.
Use the NHS Eatwell Guide as a broad check on variety across starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, protein foods and dairy or alternatives. It describes balance over a day or week, not a requirement to perfect every emergency meal. A short reserve based only on sweets or snack foods may be easy to store but offers little variety.
Include foods that fit allergies, religious or other dietary rules, and any clinical diet already advised to a household member. Do not replace a personalised diet plan with a generic emergency list. For a baby who uses formula, plan from current NHS feeding advice; ready-to-feed formula may be useful if boiling water is unavailable, and feeding equipment still needs safe handling.
Check what each meal depends on
- Water
- Dried food, powdered drinks and cleaning may need safe water; keep this separate from drinking-water needs.
- Heat
- A packet that needs boiling is not a no-cook meal. Check the actual preparation instructions.
- Opening and serving
- Keep a manual tin opener if your chosen tins need one, plus simple utensils.
- After opening
- A shelf-stable pack may need refrigeration once opened. Choose sizes the household can finish when chilling is unavailable.
Store and rotate without waste
Follow the label's storage instructions and check packaging as you rotate food. A use-by date is about safety; do not eat a food after it, even if it smells fine. A best-before date is about quality, but it does not override storage instructions or signs of damaged packaging. Food Standards Scotland gives the same distinction for Scottish households.
The Food Standards Agency advises against eating from cans with deep damage, rust caused by damage or bulging. Its advice says many canned foods intended to be heated are safe cold, but this depends on the product and its instructions. Do not assume every tin is ready to eat.
Place newer purchases behind older ones and check dates during a normal shop. There is no need to buy specialist emergency meals when familiar supermarket food covers the plan.
What this plan does not cover
Food quantities and suitable meals vary with age, appetite, activity, health needs and the length of disruption. This guide is not individual nutrition or medical advice. Keep enough safe water and follow any current official advice about food affected by a power cut or flood.