Eleven million tons of still edible food end up in the trash can in Germany every year. On the occasion of the nationwide “Too good for the bin” campaign week, which runs until October 6th, food expert Guido Ritter gives tips on how to avoid food waste. “The retail sector is not the place where the most waste is thrown away, but the household,” says the professor of ecotrophology from the Münster University of Applied Sciences in an interview with Sonja Scheller.
How big is the problem of food waste currently?
Guido Ritter: In this country, 79 kilograms of food that can still be eaten is thrown away per capita in private households every year. That is 60 percent of what is lost throughout the entire chain from production to the end consumer. In retail it is a total of five to seven percent. Due to overproduction, around 14 percent of food is wasted in processing if retailers do not accept the goods or errors in production make the goods unmarketable. Another large share lies in out-of-home catering at around 17 percent. We are eating out more and more often in canteens or cafeterias.
We actually have enough energy and calories in the form of food on the planet to feed everyone. Nevertheless, we have around 800 million people who are hungry and 1.5 billion people who are overweight. These scissors that come apart here also have a lot to do with food waste. Through better logistics and better distribution, we can ensure that everyone is fed. This also includes valuing food and not throwing it away.
Does retail also contribute to waste through its marketing of food?
Ritter: Even if retail is not the place where most food is wasted, it still has a special responsibility. In retail, supply and demand are matched. With the permanent availability and offers that encourage more consumption, an abundance is created in households.
What is thrown away particularly often?
Ritter: In Germany, fruit and vegetables are most often thrown away. These are foods that have a limited shelf life, that we often don’t store well at home and that spoil quickly. Bread is the second most frequently thrown away item. It is usually sold as stale bread when it is still super fresh within a day or two. Unfortunately, one in five breads in Germany ends up in the bin.
What are the causes of this waste?
Ritter: Here in Germany, as in other industrialized countries, there is a lot of abundance. An incredible amount of food is constantly available. And at prices that don’t actually value what we’re eating.
On the other hand, we have people here in Germany who cannot eat well and healthily. A second line was opened with the food bank, where surplus food then goes.
It used to be the case in Italy that if a piece of bread fell on the ground, it was kissed and eaten. The symbolism contained in this image almost brings tears to our eyes because there is something appreciative in it. While we sometimes throw away food that is still unopened with the packaging.
What can consumers do?
Ritter: Avoiding food waste starts at home when planning your shopping and then only buying what you actually want to buy in the supermarket. And then proper storage at home is important. Food should be stored in such a way that it remains edible for a long time. Cooling and dry storage help.
Most of the foods we have at home are edible for significantly longer than the best-before date on the packaging. Flour, rice, vinegar, spices and coffee, for example, can be consumed well beyond this date. The situation is different for products with a use-by date that can no longer be eaten after the expiration date, such as minced meat, fish and pre-cut salad.
It is also important to start with the children and teach them the value of food and nutrition when cooking and eating together at home, in daycare and at school. This means that they learn where the food comes from, what you can do with it and also how to deal with leftovers.
Do you have any other tips?
Ritter: My tip is to generally only buy the quantities that you can use. In the refrigerator, every degree that you go down with the cooling helps. There are some types of fruit that should not be stored together or with other fruits and vegetables.
Bananas and apples in particular play a role here, as they develop a ripening gas.
Bread can be frozen in portions, as storing bread at room temperature during the hot period is not optimal, especially in summer. If you freeze leftover food, you should label it well so that you can later see what is in the can and when it was frozen.
What could happen at the legislative level?
Ritter: The legislature could provide a little more clarity and make it easier for leftover food to continue to be used. For example, the food banks can collect donated food without any major problems. It could make it easier for you to take a can with you to the restaurant so that you can have the leftovers packed up.
Legislators can also set framework conditions that help ensure that we do not throw away so much as a society. But it has been shown that consumer behavior and the behavior of the individual actors in the chain are even more important than the legal framework.
What does a look abroad show? Is there less food waste there?
Ritter: It is difficult to find good examples because all industrialized countries in Europe and North America are struggling with the fact that too much food is too cheap, not valued and then ends up in the trash.
In France there is a simplification of food donation. There is a compulsory obligation for retailers to hand over excess food to food banks or similar institutions. However, this meant that there was too much food waste at the food banks.
We don’t see such good examples of legislation in Europe. Overall, the EU wants to reduce food waste by half by 2030. But I see this goal disappearing at the moment. We probably won’t be able to do that by 2030.
(epd)
