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Waste not, want not: How some processors mitigate food waste

The food and beverage industry is curbing food waste along the manufacturing process.

More than 1.3 billion tons of edible food is wasted around the world every year.
More than 1.3 billion tons of edible food is wasted around the world every year.

Food waste is an epic problem around the globe. As more and more food ends up in landfills, the demand for food continues to increase to accommodate a growing worldwide population. The scale and complexity of wasted food won’t be solved overnight. But the food and beverage industry is doing its part to stem the tide of food waste at points along the manufacturing process.

The numbers are staggering. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption is wasted every year — that’s 1.3 billon tons. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that America throws out about 40 percent of its food, while 42 million Americans face food insecurity. Less than one-third of the food Americans toss would be enough to feed the hungry. With the global population expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, food waste will only exacerbate. In addition, food waste not only squanders the resources that went into producing the food and increases carbon footprint in vain, but also contributes to climate change as food rots in landfills and releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere.

According to the NRDC report Wasted: How America is Losing up to 40 Percent of its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill, about 2 billion lb of food waste is generated annually during the manufacturing process. But many food and beverage companies are adopting resourceful strategies that reduce waste.

For example, Tomra Sorting Solutions offers food manufacturers sensor-based sorting machines that can determine if products are at least 70 percent good quality. Rather than consigning these food products to waste, they can still be reworked and used. This type of sorting machine is particularly useful for perishable products like blueberries and potatoes that may have cosmetic flaws or imperfections but are still edible.

“With the proper investments in readily available technology, it is not difficult for companies to reduce food waste,” says Mark Host, regional sales director for the Americas for Tomra.

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INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for Food Products at PACK EXPO Southeast