{"id":3094,"date":"2022-02-09T09:28:16","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T08:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.azti.es\/aztinnova\/uncategorized\/como-minimizar-desperdicios-y-residuos-industria-alimentaria\/"},"modified":"2022-04-01T10:18:19","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T08:18:19","slug":"how-to-minimise-loss-and-waste-in-the-food-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azti.es\/aztinnova\/en\/noticia-en\/how-to-minimise-loss-and-waste-in-the-food-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"How to minimise loss and waste in the food industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Minimising loss and waste in the food industry is an increasingly popular strategy. It helps to reduce company costs at a time when sustainability is no longer a luxury and has become a necessity, while growing consumer awareness about the need to care for the environment makes this type of good practice in food production and distribution more necessary than ever.<\/p>\n

Minimising waste not only has a part to play in a company’s production and distribution chains, help is also needed at points of sale and homes to ensure that waste is reduced to a minimum.<\/p>\n

Loss of foodstuffs <\/strong>refers to what happens throughout the food supply chain from the farm up to, but not including, the retail outlets.<\/p>\n

Waste of foodstuffs<\/strong> takes place during retail sales and consumption, when products are thrown away without being consumed.<\/p>\n

Another factor is the rubbish<\/strong> generated by food products, consisting mainly of packaging, which is another problem for sustainability in the sector.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Food waste: the figures<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is important to gauge the impact of loss and waste because the figures are appalling. One third of the foodstuffs produced worldwide are lost<\/a>, and up to 83% of the food wasted in Europe is still safe for consumption (FUSIONS, 2016).<\/p>\n

It needs to be remembered that production, transformation, transport and consumption of foodstuffs require the use of natural resources: water, energy, materials, etc. It also creates other residues and emissions. Such processes make for between 25% and 30% of the total greenhouse gas emissions that have led to the current climate crisis.<\/p>\n

So, when we waste food, we are not only wasting consumer goods (which are a basic necessity), we are also wasting soil, water, energy and other scarce resources used to produce, transport and refrigerate it.<\/p>\n

Faced with such a panorama, we need to identify aspects that encourage waste and loss of foodstuffs and then find formulas to reduce waste that can often be reused in other links on the food chain.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Reducing food waste during production<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Food waste generated throughout the food chain is a problem; partly because managing it can be costly and because it wastes elements that can be useful to the food industry and to others. There is a long list of items that fit in here, but some notable examples include:[\/vc_column_text]