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Britons 'throw away a third of food'

16/03/2007

British shoppers throw away almost a third of all the food they buy - around 6.7 million tonnes - every year, new research has shown.

And while about half of that consists of vegetable peelings, meat bones and tea bags, half is edible food which could be eaten, the government's waste body Wrap has found.

Wrap chief executive Jenny Price claims that out of every £1 spent on food, 15p goes straight into the bin.

"It's very easy to buy lots of food, we have masses of choice, we like to make sure that there's plenty in the fridge," she told the Today programme.

"And also we just don't see, I think, what we throw away. One of the interesting things about this research - and we interviewed nearly 1,900 people - is that only ten per cent of people said 'yes, I throw away a reasonable amount', but most of us are doing it.

"So just being aware I think is a really good step towards doing something about it."

She suggested that paying attention to use-by dates on food and checking to see what was in the cupboard before shopping could also make a big difference.

And she felt that supermarkets could help more.

"If you want three pork chops, they shouldn't sell you four; if you eat half a bag of salad, you should be able to reseal it and eat the rest the next day. So it's partly what we can do, but it's also about what we're sold," she said.

"We've talked to the supermarkets about this and I think they are actually pretty concerned about how much is being thrown away."

And she added: "I think when you think about the amount of effort and energy, and I mean carbon-type energy that goes into food production, this really is a serious issue for everybody, including the supermarkets."

Speaking on the same programme, retail consultant Theresa Wickham acknowledged that large amounts of food sold in supermarkets ultimately goes to waste.

"Our lifestyles have changed and those people who go into stores with a shopping list usually stick to it, and you usually find they have less waste," she said.

"We have a huge amount of choice now and we are buying more of the fresh foods. Fresh foods tend to have a shorter shelf life."

On its website, Wrap describes itself as a "not-for-profit company created in 2000 as part of the government's waste strategies across the United Kingdom".

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