A UK-based report has found that as much as half of the world’s food, amounting to two billion tonnes worth, ends up being thrown away.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said the waste was being caused by poor storage, strict sell-by dates, bulk offers and consumer fussiness.
The study also found that up to 30% of vegetables in the UK were not harvested because of their physical appearance.
Dr. Tim Fox from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said the level of waste was “staggering”.
The report said that between 30% and 50% of the 4 billion tonnes of food produced around the world each year went to waste.
It suggested that half the food bought in Europe and the US was thrown away.
A UK-based report has found that as much as half of the world’s food, amounting to two billion tonnes worth, ends up being thrown away
Dr. Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population – as well as those in hunger today.
“It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.
“The reasons for this situation range from poor engineering and agricultural practices, inadequate transport and storage infrastructure through to supermarkets demanding cosmetically perfect foodstuffs and encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-get-one-free offers.”
He added: “If you’re in the developing world, then the losses are in the early part of the food supply chain, so between the field and the marketplace.
“In the mature, developed economies the waste is really down to poor marketing practices and consumer behavior.”
The report – Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not – also found that huge amounts of water, totaling 550 billion cubic metres, were being used to grow crops that were never eaten.
The institution said the demand for water for food production could reach 10 to 13 trillion cubic metres a year by 2050.
The United Nations predicts there will be an extra three billion mouths to feed by 2075 as the global population swells to 9.5 billion.
Dr. Tim Fox added: “As water, land and energy resources come under increasing pressure from competing human demands, engineers have a crucial role to play in preventing food loss and waste by developing more efficient ways of growing, transporting and storing foods.
“But in order for this to happen governments, development agencies and organization like the UN must work together to help change people’s mindsets on waste and discourage wasteful practices by farmers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers.”
American company Microzap has developed a technique that it says can make bread stay mould-free for 60 days.
The bread is zapped in a sophisticated microwave array which kills the spores that cause the problem.
Microzap claims it could significantly reduce the amount of wasted bread.
The technique can also be used with a wide range of foods including fresh turkey and many fruits and vegetables.
Food waste is a massive problem in most developed countries. In the US, figures released this year suggest that the average American family throws away 40% of the food they purchase – which adds up to $165 billion annually.
One of the biggest threats to bread is mould. As loaves are usually wrapped in plastic, any water in the bread that evaporates from within is trapped and makes the surface moist. This provides excellent growing conditions for Rhizopus stolonifer, the fungus that leads to mould.
In normal conditions, bread will go mouldy in around 10 days.
But Microzap says it has developed a technique that will keep the bread mould free for two months.
Microzap has developed a technique that it says can make bread stay mould-free for 60 days
At its laboratory on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, chief executive Don Stull showed off the long, metallic microwave device that resembles an industrial production line. Originally designed to kill bacteria such as MRSA and salmonella, the researchers discovered it could kill the mould spores in bread in around 10 seconds.
“We treated a slice of bread in the device, we then checked the mould that was in that bread over time against a control,” he explained.
“And at 60 days it had the same mould content as it had when it came out of the oven.”
The machine the team has built uses much the same technology as found in commercial microwaves – but with some important differences, according to Don Stull.
“We introduce the microwave frequencies in different ways, through a slotted radiator. We get a basically homogeneous signal density in our chamber – in other words, we don’t get the hot and cold spots you get in your home microwave.”
Microzap’s device has attracted plenty of interest from bread manufacturers – but it is worried that it could push up costs in an industry where margins are very tight.
And there is also a concern that consumers might not take to bread that lasts for so long. Don Stull acknowledges it might be difficult to convince some people of the benefits.
“We’ll have to get some consumer acceptance of that,” he said.
“Most people do it by feel and if you still have that quality feel they probably will accept it.”
Don Stull believes that the technology could impact bread in other ways. He said that bread manufacturers added lots of preservatives to try and fight mould, but then must add extra chemicals to mask the taste of the preservatives. If bakers were able to use the microwave technology, they would be able to avoid these additives.
While a wholesale change in the bread industry might be difficult to achieve, there may be more potential with other foods, including ground turkey.
In 2011, food giant Cargill had to recall 16 million kg of the product after a salmonella outbreak. Don Stull believes that using microwaves would be an effective way of treating this and several other products ranging from jalapenos to pet foods.
The only fruit that his device was unable to treat effectively were cantaloupes.
“We’ve used our tumbler machine to treat them, but you can’t tumble cantaloupes because they damage,” he said.
