Food losses in food service institutions -: Examples from Sweden

Lowering food losses is a potential measure to overcome hunger and reduce the ecological side effects from the food system. However, few observations of food losses have been reported in the literature during recent years. We studied food losses in four food service institutions in Stockholm, Sweden. The results show that about one-fifth of the food is lost. Plate waste is the single largest source of loss, at 11-13% of the amount of food served. Losses in food service institutions can be of significant economic value, and arable land equivalent to 1.5% of the area under cultivation in Sweden may be used to produce food eventually lost in food service institutions. The results indicate that the economic and environmental consequences of current levels of food losses may be substantial. More research is needed in order to better estimate levels, devise prevention strategies and identify policy implications. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.