Food waste in animal feed with a focus on use for broilers

Purpose Although the world's food production is approximately 3.99 billion metric tons, one in nine people remain malnourished. In combination with the projected world population of nine billion by 2050, further malnourishment of both humans and animals may occur; therefore, understanding of the current status of food waste and reuse is important. Methods An extensive literature review was conducted to quantify food waste by weight and percentage at harvesting, processing/manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and consumer sectors of the food supply chain. The analysis of food waste was considered globally, within the United States, and within the state of California (USA). Results Large amounts of food waste (meat, vegetables, fruits, and breads) are produced daily. Results of the previous research suggest that food waste can be used successfully in diets of monogastric animals. Conclusions The poultry industry is growing globally and uses large amounts of corn and soy for poultry diets; therefore, research should be conducted to investigate the partial use of alternative feed ingredients to meet the growing demand for poultry production. We proposed that food waste, occurring in all sectors of the food supply chain, could become a partial substitute for corn and soy in broiler diets.