A UK group called WRAP ( Waste & Resources Action Programme ) issued a
report on food waste and the impact on the economy as well as on the environment. According to the report, the cost of wasted food in the US is about $162 billion. This waste is generated throughout the food chain, from the field to the kitchen table, and in a time when many go hungry, there is a need to put waste reduction controls in place.
The NY Times published a series of articles on waste reduction controls for the consumers and restaurants. One is providing tips for utilizing food that would otherwise be wasted and another on being more efficient in the kitchen (articles below).
For food processors and retailers, there is the
Food Waste Reduction Alliance. A nice publication on their website is a
Best Practices Guide. This includes information on food donations.
There will be an increasing emphasis on reducing food waste, especially as there are many people who do not get enough food
Regardless of where those controls are instituted, one important factor that must be part of any food reduction control activity is food safety. As we try to store food longer, or utilize foods or parts of food previously thought of as unusable, food safety can be an issue.
One concern is collecting raw food / kitchen waste for composting. Often times, raw foods will have pathogens like Salmonella and Campylobacter associated with them, chicken skin for example. Cooked foods can also be a concern. Cooks foods, with no or very little bacterial flora, can serve as a growth media for spore-forming pathogens that survived the cooking (such as Clostridium perfringens or Clostridium botulinum) or for environmental pathogens such as Listeria or Staphylococcus. There are however, spoilage bacteria that may work to prevent this. A
study of kitchen waste has shown that common spoilage bacteria, primarily lactic acid bacteria, are often in our collection points and prohibit or eliminate any food safety issues. This is not to say that kitchen waste shouldn't be handled and stored properly.
A more important control though is proper composting. Proper composting will eliminate pathogens, so it is important to do this prior to using compost in a garden.
Molds are one hazard to consider when utilizing food or food waste. As food is handled and/or store for a long time, or when it is handled and restored, mold can be introduced, and then grow during storage. A number of mold species can produce mycotoxins and these mycotoxins are dangerous in that they can cause a wide broad range of health issues including being carcinogenic, mutagenic, and having harmful to organs such as the liver. It is also important to note that mycotoxins are heat resistant, and will not be eliminated by cooking.
People will often try to salvage food with mold on it. In general, once a food becomes moldy, it should be discarded. This includes fruits and vegetables. If within a lot of fruits of vegetables, items are showing mold, the effected product should be sorted out immediately. It is also important to note that mold spores may have deposited on the good product from the mold growing nearby, and that good food may show signs of mold spoilage in a matter of days. Therefore, you want to use that salvaged product sooner rather than later.
An issue with long term storage of refrigerated foods is Listeria. Unlike many of the other bacterial pathogens, Listeria can grow at refrigeration temperatures. This is a especially a concern for soft chesses and deli meats. These are two items that should not be used once the product has reached the end of its stated shelf-life. It is also important to keep you refrigerator clean.
Manufacturer-established shelf-life dates have come under fire as a big cause for much of the food waste that is seen. True, many of these dates are based upon quality, or best quality, and have little or no relation to safety, with the exception of deli meats or dairy products such as soft cheeses. My input to this is that rather to argue about whether product should be thrown out by the end of that date, is to put the emphasis on using the product before it gets to that point. Perhaps it would be better to focus on the consumer better utilizing food. Better utilization would entail better determining the amount of food that can be used within a given amount of time, such as a week or the time between shopping trips. This way, perishables will be used before they go bad. Better utilization also includes rotating food on the shelf, so that we don't end up finding that expired product in the back of the shelf. Face it, who hasn't had to throw out a box of Fruit Loops that got pushed behind everything else on that shelf. Being more deliberate in your choices at the store. If like me, you buy 5 cans of a new product only to find out as you eat the first can.....it's not very good. Then the rest sit...forever. Or there is a sale on
Sriracha flavored beans - buy five get two free, and of course you get 7 cans only to tire on them after the first three. Lastly, preparing too much. Who finishes that 2lb can of pork'n beans?
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/us/food-waste-is-becoming-serious-economic-and-environmental-issue-report-says.html?_r=0
Food Waste Is Becoming Serious Economic and Environmental Issue, Report Says
By
RON NIXONFEB. 25, 2015
WASHINGTON — With millions of households across the country struggling to have enough to eat, and millions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is increasingly being seen as a serious environmental and economic issue.
A report released Wednesday shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, with an estimated value of $162 billion. About 32 million metric tons of it end up in municipal landfills, at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year to local governments.
The problem is not limited to the United States.
The report estimates that a third of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste could be as high as $400 billion a year. Reducing food waste from 20 to 50 percent globally could save $120 billion to $300 billion a year by 2030, the report found.
