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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Most people don’t realize that the biggest environmental step they can take – not recycling, not buying an electric car or putting solar panels on their roof – is simply stop throwing food away. Roughly one-third of all the food produced worldwide for human consumption – 1.3 billion tons annually – is wasted. Americans throw away a lot more food than they anticipate they will when they go shopping.
A recent study published in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling took a hard look into the food used and discarded in American homes. One of the study’s lead researchers, Brian Roe, a professor at The Ohio State University, said, “The refrigerator is the destination where half-eaten food goes to die.” And, that is exactly what his study found.
An estimated 43% of food waste is due to in-home practices. In Professor Roe’s study, participants anticipated eating 97% of the meat in their refrigerators but only finished about half. They expected to eat 94% of the vegetables they bought but ate less than half. When it came to dairy food only 42% were eaten and close to a third of all fruits were thrown away.
What is creating all this waste? Many factors impact our decisions to toss food – date labels, odor, appearance and cost. In another study published in Waste Management the results showed that a lot of food is discarded unnecessarily based on food safety concerns. Among the people surveyed for the reasons they discard food, 84% said they often discarded food when it got close to the package date. Close to 40% say they always discard food near the package date. Close to half the participants incorrectly believed that date labeling was federally regulated. Except for infant formula, there is no federal mandate to date food.
Most dates found on food are local regulations or voluntary brand dating to give the consumer a quality guide not a safety limit for use. There is no mandated safety labeling currently in use. However, new voluntary industry standards for date labeling are currently being adopted. Under this system, “Best if used by” will provide a date after which the quality of the food may decline slightly (texture, staleness) but the food is still safe to eat. “Use by” labels will be put on a small group of foods where safety is a concern and the food should be discarded after that date.
The hope is that this proposed new dating system will cut down on food waste. Currently, people are more likely to discard perishable foods than nonperishables. Raw chicken is most frequently thrown away, followed by deli meats. Canned foods and breakfast cereals are thrown away the least, but still close to 50% of people discard them after the label date.
Food waste makes up over 20% of all waste found in landfills. And the packaging that comes with the discarded food also adds to the burden of waste. Plastic and paper account for over 30% of landfill waste and their decomposition generates environmental pollutants.
Recycling food packaging is not as effective as many believe it is. Used aluminum cans are piling up in scrapyards because the cost and challenges of recycling outweigh the profitability of reuse. Recyclable glass containers are heavy and costly to transport to the recycling destinations. Plastic, even when it degrades creates microparticles that can still be damaging to the environment. Often recyclable food packaging waste ends up where it should not be – littered on streets and stuffed into regular garbage cans. Municipalities that allow comingled recycling results in nonrecyclable items in recycling bins that makes sorting cumbersome, which in turn results in fewer materials being reclaimed.
Reducing food waste – buying what you need and eating what you buy – is as important as is reducing, reusing and recycling packaging materials to divert them from waste streams. Food waste is a complex issue – awareness of the problem is a good place to start.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of 30 books.
Available as eBooks from iTunes and Kindle/Amazon:
Diabetes Counter – the most up-to-date information on managing diabetes
Calorie Counter – a weight loss guide that won’t let you down
Protein Counter – put the latest protein recommendations to work for you
Healthy Wholefoods Counter – planet-friendly eating made easy
Complete Food Counter – food counts and nutrition information at your fingertips
Fat and Cholesterol Counter – newest approach to heart-healthy eating
Available in print from Gallery Books:
Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd Ed.
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com