FAO : 1.3 billion tonne food wasted annually

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations body, today said about 1.3 billion tonne of food get wasted or lost annually across the world. "Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year about 1.3 billion tonne gets lost or wasted," FAO said in a statement. The report distinguishes between food loss and food waste, adding that losses happen during the production, processing and distribution of food. They affect developing countries worst. While, food wastage is the big issue in industrialised countries. It is mainly due to retailers and consumers throwing perfectly edible food into the bin. According to the study, "Global Food Losses and Food Waste" commissioned by FAO, industrialised and developing countries waste around 670 million tonne and 630 million tonne of food, respectively. Among the study's key findings the amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world's annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonne in 2009-10). The study also informed that consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonne) annually as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonne). It also found that fruit and vegetables including roots and tubers go to waste more than other types of food. "Per capita waste by consumers is between 95-115 kg a year in Europe and North America, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia each throw away only 6-11 kg a year," the study said. In developing countries 40% of losses occur at post-harvest and processing levels while in industrialised countries more than 40% of losses happen at retail and consumer levels, it added. The study done by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) recommends that developing countries should improve production and distribution, so as to stop losing so much food and that the industrialised nations must curb wastage.