Supermarkets and other food establishments are food havens. Whatever type or cuisine of food you are looking for, you will be able to find one near your vicinity. But little do we know that there are also one of the largest food wasters as well! Ever wonder why the food items always have long best-by dates and what happens to items that expire before they are sold? Or what about the excess food already whipped up into delicious cuisines in buffet lines? Well, follow us on this food journey as we uncover the hidden process of food wastage!
In Singapore alone, about half of all food wastage is from non-domestic sources, which includes food retailers and establishments (Ong, 2018). That amounts to about 400000 tonnes of food being disposed of annually (equivalent to the weight of 690 A380 aircraft)! Watch the short video below to see how Singapore, the food paradise, does not paint such a rosy picture in terms of its food wastage (CNA Insider, 2015).
Generally, these are food products in food retailers that have ‘expired’ or that have gone their best by dates. Well, it is important to note that Singapore only has a mandatory requirement of ‘expiry’ dates for 19 products types, mostly perishables and products that deteriorate over time (Singapore Food Agency, 2019). Hence, things like your biscuits, canned food and soft drinks that all carry an expiry date do not really serve much purpose, especially if stored as recommended. However, since it is illegal for food retailers to sell products past their expiry dates, they just end up throwing them in the trash. Well, this issue affects everywhere in the world. Below is a video from CBC (2016) that showcases the ‘trash’ from Canadian supermarkets.
Apart from this, another significant contributor to food waste is ‘ugly’ food. This refers to any product that retailers deem as not pleasant for sale, especially among fresh produces. Yellowing and bruises on produce are some indicators that are considered as unpleasant and often they are tossed into the trash. It was even reported that Mustafa Centre, a 24-hour shopping mall, throws their unsold produce just after 3 days of being on the shelf, which equates to about 100kg of fruits and vegetables that are perfect for consumption being tossed into the green bins (Ng, 2018).
Restaurants and food establishments, including canteens and hotel buffets, also contribute to food waste, both cooked and uncooked food. Uncooked food wastage is usually due to poor management of stock-taking, resulting in the food items not being used timely. Similarly, certain parts of the products are also not used in the cooking process, for example, vegetable stems, are also tossed into the bin. Cooked food wastage, on the other hand, can be triggered by a few causes. The reasons include larger than required portion-sizes and overpreparation of food. Buffets are particularly wasteful in this manner as they prepare more food than required to keep their buffet lines fully stocked but end up throwing much of whatever is uneaten at the end of the closing.
In Singapore, the majority of these food waste is directed to our incinerators as organic compounds are not accepted in our landfill (Tan & Khoo, 2006). Hence, the food wastes from our supermarkets and restaurants directly contribute to the emission of pollutants such as sulphur oxides, nitrous oxides as well as volatile organic compounds (ibid.). On top of this direct emissions, all the resources such as energy and water used in the previous stages of food production, which themselves cause emissions and pollution, have all also gone to waste. In other words, food was just cultivated, processed, transported, and stored just to be wasted and burnt in our incineration plants.
All things said, food wastage is something that we can decisively control and we ought to do so. Given the ever-growing need for food, it is important for retailers to consider how to overcome this issue of food wastage, either through repurposing or donating the food away instead of tossing these precious resources into the bin.
Trailing off,
Jade and Ridzuan
References
CBC News (2016). Food waste: How much food do supermarkets throw away? (CBC Marketplace). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLqkV8cP4xs&ab_channel=CBCNews [Accessed 8 Oct. 2020].
CNA Insider (2015). Trouble In Food Paradise | CNA Insider. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX1YvBWuDvM&t=139s&ab_channel=CNAInsider [Accessed 9 Oct. 2020].
Ng, G. (2018). How supermarkets fight food waste in Singapore. The Straits Times. [online] 10 Sep. Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/how-supermarkets-fight-food-waste-in-singapore [Accessed 8 Oct. 2020].
Ong, S.S. (2018). About half of food waste from non-domestic sources, businesses taking steps to minimise wastage. TODAYonline. [online] 31 Oct. Available at:
https://www.todayonline.com/voices/about-half-food-waste-are-non-domestic-sources-businesses-taking-steps-minimise-wastage [Accessed 8 Oct. 2020].
Singapore Food Agency (2019). Understanding Food & Nutrition Labels. [online] Sfa.gov.sg. Available at: https://www.sfa.gov.sg/food-information/labelling-packaging-information/understanding-food-nutrition-labels [Accessed 8 Oct. 2020].
Tan, R.B.H. and Khoo, H.H. (2006). Impact Assessment of Waste Management Options in Singapore. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, [online] 56(3), pp.244–254. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10473289.2006.10464463 [Accessed 8 Oct. 2020].
