Food and water

What to put in an emergency food store, and what to leave out

By Alan Redbourn. Published 5 September 2026. Sources checked between 29 August 2026 and 2 September 2026.

The UK government names the items: a battery or wind-up torch, a portable power bank, a battery or wind-up radio, spare batteries including a backup for any medical equipment, a first aid kit, hand sanitiser and wet wipes, bottled water, non-perishable food that needs no cooking, and for households with babies, nappies and ready-to-feed formula.¹

That is the whole official list. It is shorter than most of what you will find online, and it is the one written for this country.

The food

Non-perishable food that does not need cooking. The Prepare campaign gives ready-to-eat tinned meat, fruit or vegetables as its examples, and it names a tin opener.¹

The phrase doing the work is "does not need cooking". A store built on dried pasta and rice assumes you still have gas or electricity to boil water with, which is the thing that has just failed. Tins that can be eaten cold are the point.

The tin opener is on the government's list for a reason. A ring-pull is a design choice, not a guarantee, and a manual opener costs a few pounds.

The water

The UK figure is a minimum of 2.5 to 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, and around 10 litres per person per day once cooking and hygiene are counted.¹

The industry plans to the same number from the other direction. Water UK's technical guidance records that alternative supplies may be distributed under the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2006 at 10 litres per person per day, or 20 litres per person per day in incidents lasting more than 5 days.² So 10 litres a head is what you plan for and roughly what would be brought to you.

Where to keep it

Water UK's guidance states bottled water must be stored in conditions suitable for food products: a cool, dust-free environment, away from direct sunlight and potential sources of contamination such as strong smelling chemicals or diesel fumes, and that under no circumstances should it be stored outside or exposed to sunlight.²

Read that again before you stack a case of water in the garage beside the petrol can and the tin of fence paint.

Shelf life is as the manufacturer advises and is usually a maximum of 2 years, and stocks should be rotated so the oldest is used first.² The bottles carry best-before labelling rather than use-by, and stored correctly the water will not deteriorate.² The panic about expired water is misplaced. The rotation still matters, because the plastic and the storage conditions are what change, not the water.

How long to store for

The government's reasonable worst-case storm scenario is storm force winds over multiple UK regions for at least 6 hours, with disruption to power, communications, transport and homes lasting 1 to 4 days, and more than 5 days in remote rural areas.³

Work back from that. Three days is the honest minimum for most of the country. A remote rural household should be reading the 5 day figure as the one that applies to it.

Dates, and which ones matter

Use-by dates relate to safety. Best before dates relate to quality. Use-by must be shown on foods that go off quickly, and eating food after the use-by date could make you ill. After the best before date food is usually safe but may not be of the same quality.⁴

An emergency store is mostly best-before stock: tinned, dried and frozen food all carry best-before dates.⁴ That is why a store cupboard survives being forgotten about, and why the rotation is about quality rather than a cliff edge.

On the sniff test, the Food Standards Agency is precise, and the precision is worth keeping. You cannot see, smell or taste the bacteria that cause food poisoning, and food can look and smell fine after its use-by date without being safe to eat.⁵ The sniff test may be used on best-before products, because those dates are about quality.⁵ After a best before date the Agency says you can use sight, taste or smell, for example looking for visible mould on bread or smelling dairy for souring.⁴

Food may also be eaten after its use-by date if it was cooked or frozen on or before that date.⁴ The freezer is a pause button with a date stamp.

What to leave out

Home canning and bottling. The Food Standards Agency states that canning and bottling products such as herbs or garlic in oil is risky, because it is difficult to achieve at home the level of control needed to destroy or prevent the growth of Clostridium botulinum spores, and it names home-preserved foods, tinned and bottled foods, foods preserved in oil, and food packed in airtight containers among the foods associated with foodborne botulism.⁶

American preparedness writing teaches pressure canning as a core skill. The UK regulator says the control needed is not achievable at home. Take the regulator.

NHS guidance is not to eat food from tins, jars or bottles that are bulging or damaged, not to eat food that smells bad or is past its use-by date, and not to give honey to babies under 12 months old. It advises calling 999 for symptoms of botulism, which include drooping eyelids, blurred or double vision, difficulty swallowing and speaking, and a limp or floppy baby.⁷

Babies and pets

The Prepare campaign states that ready-made or ready-to-feed formula is best, because you may not be able to boil water or sterilise bottles.¹ It also reminds households not to forget food for pets.¹

When the power goes off, eat in this order

The Food Standards Agency sets the order: foods needing refrigeration first, then defrosted frozen food requiring no cooking, then room-temperature perishable food, then room-temperature canned, bottled and dried food.⁸

The clock behind that order is short. A fridge should stay cold for up to 4 hours.⁸ A freezer should hold for up to 48 hours if it is full, or 24 hours if it is half full, and the Agency says these are estimates.⁸ A full freezer buys twice as long as a half empty one, in the regulator's own figures.

Questions