Author: Kristen

Chris Vogliano, MS, RDN defines food waste as food that is lost, discarded, or uneaten. Food waste is mostly in developed countries and food loss is mostly in developing countries. Food waste for developing countries occurs early in the food supply chain. Food waste can occur due to harvesting, transportation, storage issues, and spoilage. Wasted food in developed countries happens later mostly due to restaurants, food service operations, and consumers.  Food waste can occur during production, harvest, and transportation (pests, insects, diseases, weather). Food waste can occur with retailers and food services (overstocking, past best buy, consumer expectation). Consumers also contribute to food waste (uneaten leftovers, overbuying, and confusion over the best buy dates). He even states that according to the USDA, supermarkets alone lose up to $15 billion annually in unsold fruits and vegetables. America wastes an estimated 40% of all food that we produce.

Alice Henneman, MS, RDN continues the discussion with different strategies to helping reduce food waste. One important strategy is decoding the food labels. Over 90% of consumers are throwing out food too early, which leads to massive food waste. Dieticians have the opportunity to educate consumers on the differences between sell by, use by, and best by on food labels that I’m sure we’ve all seen before while grocery shopping. She goes on to list other strategies which include “offer vs. serve” in schools, avoid overbuying fresh produce, switching to smaller plates, getting creative with scraps, etc. There are a variety of ways that everyone can participate in to help reduce the food waste that is occurring.

This webinar was interesting and shocking at the same time. It’s concerning for a number of reasons. One reason being that we have millions of people who live in America that do not know where their next meal is coming from. To have such a massive food waste issue, we still have so many people who deal with food insecurity. Food waste also creates the greenhouse gas methane when introduced to landfills (which should be a last resort if you can help it). Chris mentions that methane is 25 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide. Some additional information to consider would be the food recovery hierarchy from the EPA. Donate extra food to food banks or shelters, composting, using scraps for animal feed and a few other strategies are listed as well. There are even apps that can be downloaded to help reduce food waste: Is My Food Safe?, Love Food Hate Waste, and Green Egg Shopper were the few named during this webinar.

What is a food additive? This presentation defines a food additive as any substance the intended use of, which may reasonably be expected to, directly or indirectly, becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of food. This excludes pesticides, color additives, prior sanctioned substances, and substances that are generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Dr. Clemens discusses addresses why we use food additives and food preservatives. Food additives preserve nutritional quality of food, provide necessary ingredients for those with special diet needs, enhance the stability of food, and aid in the manufacturing, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, etc. of food. He also gave some examples of what our foods would look like if we did not have food additives. One example he gave was strawberry ice cream. Most would expect the ice cream to be pink, so a food color is added. Food additives are also added to make the consistency for ice cream. Another interesting point he discussed was food sustainability. Food additives allow for longer shelf life, which can help to reduce waste. Food preservatives are substances added to foods to inhibit microbial growth. 3 fundamental functions of food preservatives include: promoting food safety, providing greater food choices, and promoting food convenience. The 2 types of food preservatives are direct and indirect. Direct food additives are added during processing and provide nutrients, keep the product fresh, and make the food more appealing. Indirect food additives can be found during or after the food has been processed.

Amy Miller discussed consumers and she starts with recognizing some of the latest trends when it comes to consumers shopping for food. Consumers are reporting that additives have a strong influence on what they purchase. 25% of consumers are seeking products with ingredients they recognize or with the shortest list of ingredients. Consumers are also shopping for foods without preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, and chemical additives. I thought it was interesting because less preservatives could increase food waste and decrease shelf life as mentioned by Dr. Clemens.  59% (6 out of 10) of consumers believe that that fewer ingriedents mean it’s healthier which is not always the case.

Nutritionists or any experts in food have an opportunity to educate consumers and clear up any misconceptions that people have about food and what’s in it. There is some fear and uncertainty about ingredients and the proper advice and education will allow consumers to make more informed decisions when shopping. The food industry has responded by decreasing artificial additives, sweeteners, MSG, trans fat, etc.  Overall, I think the trends of eating healthier will continue to grow, but there’s still a gap in understanding what is “good” and what is “bad”. As mentioned in this presentation, ingredients that are clean and natural do not always equate to safe or healthful.