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Stay Prepared

emergency food that needs no cooking

Keep 3 days of food you can eat cold: tins, packets and long-life drinks you already like.

Buy what you normally eat, a little at a time, and use the oldest first. Keep a tin opener that does not need power.

what to keep

  1. Tinned fish and meat

    Tuna, sardines, salmon and ham are cooked in the tin and eaten cold.

  2. Tinned beans and pulses

    Baked beans, chickpeas and lentils are already cooked. They are fine cold.

  3. Tinned fruit and vegetables

    Fruit in juice, sweetcorn and potatoes. Drink the juice too.

  4. Crackers, oatcakes and breakfast cereal

    They keep for months. Eat cereal dry or with long-life milk.

  5. Nuts, peanut butter and dried fruit

    A lot of energy in a small space. Check for allergies at home.

  6. Long-life milk and juice

    UHT cartons keep for months unopened. Once opened, drink them that day without a fridge.

  7. For babies, ready-to-feed formula

    It comes in cartons and needs no water or boiling. Keep a few days of it.

what to have ready

Check what you already have first, then buy only what is missing.

check your cupboard see the ready-made kits

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where this comes from

Sources checked 24 September 2026.

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