Global primary data on consumer food waste: Rate and characteristics A review

The present review synthesizes published work from the global research community for the purpose of providing an overview of the state of knowledge regarding consumer food waste rate and characteristics. Our core interest is in primary data from field studies with direct measurements. We built a database consisting of 332 publications (1949-2019); data were extracted, weighted and normalized. Consumer food waste metrics were grouped into four categories: (i) food waste generation rate as kg cap(-1) day(-1) or kg cap(-1) meal(-1) from households, food services and schools; (ii) percent of food entering households or food services that was not eaten but discarded; (iii) food waste as a proportion of municipal solid waste stream; and (iv) physicochemical characteristics of food waste from the above sources, including pH, protein, lipids, gross energy and seven other parameters. Three tiers of analysis were performed: descriptive statistics, multiple pairwise comparisons, and interpretative analysis to discern trends and patterns. Methodologies used in individual studies for food waste rate determination varied a great deal, especially in participant number (5-25,000), study duration (1-700 days), and type of food waste collected and measured (edible vs. inedible; plate- vs. preparation- vs. serving-waste). Roughly half of the 53 parameters collectively analyzed did not conform to the normal distribution. Food waste rates were highly variable among studies. Very high and very low rates were reported in countries/regions of differing affluence. Moving forward on food waste reduction requires in-depth understanding of what drives high- vs. low-wasting behaviors to inform policies and enable actions.

Automated summary

This review synthesizes published work on consumer food waste rate and characteristics from the global research community, revealing significant variations in food waste rates and a need for a deeper understanding of the factors driving high vs. low-waste behaviors to inform policy and action.