A new study has exposed the staggering amount of food thrown away every day
by the British public, calculating that the annual total of wasted products adds
up to a record £10bn.
Each day, according to the government-backed report, Britons throw away 4.4
million apples, 1.6 million bananas, 1.3 million yoghurt pots, 660,000 eggs,
550,000 chickens, 300,000 packs of crisps and 440,000 ready meals. And for the
first time government researchers have established that most of the food waste
is made up of completely untouched food products – whole chickens and chocolate
gateaux that lie uneaten in cupboards and fridges before being discarded.
The roll call of daily waste costs an average home more than £420 a year but for
a family with children the annual cost rises to £610.
The Government's waste campaign Wrap (Waste & Resources Action Programme)
revealed the extent of Britain's throwaway food culture after sifting through
the dustbins of 2,138 people who signed up to an audit of food detritus. Other
items on the daily list included 1.2 million sausages, 710,000 packs of
chocolate or sweets, 260,000 packs of cheese, 50,000 milkshake bottles and
25,000 cooking sauces.
The study is published as millions of the world's poor face food shortages
caused by rising populations, droughts and increased demand for land for
biofuels, which have sparked riots and protests from Haiti to Mauritania, and
from Yemen to the Philippines. Last month India halted the export of non-basmati
rice to ensure its poor can eat, while Vietnam, the second-biggest rice
exporter, is considering a similar measure after Cyclone Nargis ripped through
Burma's rice-producing Irrawaddy delta.
In Britain yesterday, it emerged that food prices had risen by 4.7 per cent in
the past month. The soaring cost of wheat has increased food prices in the UK by
up to 11 per cent in the past year, putting more pressure on domestic budgets
already struggling to cope with higher mortgage costs and council tax and energy
bills.
Wrap suggested households seeking to balance their finances could save money by
following basic tips to prevent food waste, such as planning shopping trips
better and keeping a closer check on use-by dates. It also pointed out that many
people do not know the difference between a "best before date", which has no
implications for food safety, and use-by data, which must be followed.
The Environment minister, Joan Ruddock, said: "These findings are staggering in
their own right, but at a time when global food shortages are in the headlines
this kind of wastefulness becomes even more shocking. This is costing consumers
three times over. Not only do they pay hard-earned money for food they don't
eat, there is also the cost of dealing with the waste this creates. And there
are climate- change costs to all of us of growing, processing, packaging,
transporting and refrigerating food that only ends up in the bin. Preventing
waste in the first place has to remain a top priority."
Eliminating the huge level of food waste would have significant environmental
consequences. Local authorities spend £1bn a year disposing of food waste, which
leads to the release of methane, a potent climate-change gas. Wrap calculated
that stopping the waste of good food could reduce the annual emission of carbon
dioxide by 18 million tonnes – the same effect as taking one in five cars off
the roads.
Food experts said the study should serve as a wake-up call to British consumers.
As well as an individual "Victorian moral" effort, Tim Lang, professor of food
policy at City University, called for the Government to take action to improve
the efficiency of the food system to face up to the challenges of climate
change, rising oil costs and water shortages. Describing modern supermarkets as
"cathedrals of waste", he said: "The British food economy is one of the most
wasteful it would be conceivable to design. We have to create a new set of
criteria on what we want the food economy to address; it's time for politicians
to catch up."
Previously, Wrap's Love Food, Hate Waste campaign put the financial cost of the
6.7 million tonnes of food discarded annually in the UK at £8bn. After
interviewing 2,715 households – and then analysing the contents of most of their
bins – researchers found that people were throwing away a greater proportion of
edible, unused products. Rather than half new food and half peelings and
scrapings from plates, the proportion of entirely unused products was 60 per
cent by weight and 70 per cent by value.
Overall, that meant the total level of waste was £2bn higher, at £10bn, with the
untouched products discarded worth £6bn. Of those, products worth £1bn were
still "in date", Wrap found.
Launching The Food We Waste report, Wrap's chief executive, Liz Goodwin,
described its findings – which mean that one in three shopping bags is dumped
straight in the bin – as "shocking".
She said: "People aren't really aware that we are wasting so much food; do we
think it's acceptable to throw so much away when people around the world are
starving? But also with the economic situation here purse strings are getting
tighter yet the average family with children is wasting more than £600 a year on
food waste. It begs some questions which we all need to ask ourselves. As
individuals we are all wasting food. By class or age, there isn't much
difference in how much we waste."
Tips to cut food waste
* Plan meals for the whole week, working out how much food is needed for each
main course and pudding.
* Shop more carefully. Write a list of the things you need, and then stick to
it. Avoid "buy one get one half-price" promotions if you cannot eat the extra
food.
* Buy a mixture of fresh and frozen. Pull frozen food from the freezer when
necessary.
* Know your labels. A "best before" is not when food has to be thrown out – it
may still be usable. Instead, use your nose to check whether something is off.
* Use leftovers. They can create quick, tasty, nutritious and cheap dishes.