RICH CONSUMERS WASTE MORE FOOD, SAYS FAO REPORT

NEW DELHI, May 13 (Bernama) -- Over-pampered consumers in rich countries buy and throw away more edible food due to poor planning of food purchases, while the poor have little to eat, said a recent global study.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its latest study, 'Global Food Losses and Food Waste' concluded that yearly consumers in rich countries wasted about 222 million tonnes of food, almost the total food production of sub-Saharan Africa.

"Food waste is more a problem in industrialised countries, most often caused by both retailers and consumers throwing perfectly edible foodstuffs into the trash.

"Consumers fail to plan their food purchases properly. That means they often throw food away when best-before dates expired," said the report released on Wednesday by the Rome-headquartered FAO.

Other startling revelations were -- per capita waste by consumers was between 95-115kg a year in Europe and North America, compared to sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia, where consumers throw away only 6-11kg a year.

In well-to-do economies, total per capita food production for consumption was about 900kg a year, double the 460kg annual production in the world's poorest regions.

Customers in rich countries are generally enticed to buy more food than they actually consume –- largely lured by 'buy three, pay two' promotions and the large ready-to-eat meals offered by eateries.

And, restaurants often offered fixed-price buffets that spurred customers to heap their plates, added the report.

As a result of food losses (harvesting, post-harvesting and processing stage) and food wastage, about one-third of the world's food production or over a billion tonnes of food is wasted annually.

The research was commissioned by FAO from the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology.