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•Nutritional Loss and Waste (NLS) represents the nutritional potential derived from food loss and waste;•Feeding potential (FP) is the number of adult individuals that could be fed ...with food losses;•World’s food production is increasing, and the rate of food losses follows this grow;•World’s food losses in 2017 would be enough to feed about 940 million adult individuals;•Investigations on nutritional production and waste can help to promote global food security.
This study, focused on the concept of nutritional loss and waste (NLW), aimed to estimate the nutritional losses derived from food losses worldwide, estimating the number of people that could be fed with the amount of food loss worldwide, and confronting such estimate with the prevalence of undernourished people worldwide. We analyzed data on the estimated amount of food losses, considering different food types in nations worldwide, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The investigation estimated the amounts of kilocalories and proteins for each food item available in the FAO’s Food Balance Sheets. Data regarding energy and protein losses were converted into the feeding potential (FP) metric that evaluates the number of adult individuals that could be fed with the nutritional losses. The study uses the balance of feeding potential (BFP) obtained through the FP minus the prevalence of undernourished population. The results show that the total production of the main food groups in the world has drastically increased in the last decades, and the rate of loss for such food groups remains constant or slightly growing. Moreover, the results suggest that the amount of food losses registered by the FAO in 2017 would be enough to feed about 940 million adult individuals, being enough to feed the amount of undernourished people in the world. Furthermore, some countries present high levels of BFP, such as the United States, Brazil and China. In contrast, some other countries, such as India and Pakistan, show lower levels of BFP. Policymakers and private sector agents involved in global food systems should be focusing their attention on increasing supply chain efficiency and reducing food loss and waste (FLW) and NLW on a global scale. This study encourages the definition of an international treaty committing nations to significantly reduce their FLW and NLW levels.
•Bureaucratic simplifications may only have a marginal impact on starting donations.•Reputational risks limit donations of food past the best-before-date.•Different types of donors present highly ...diversified reactions to the policy.•Policy should not only incentivise donors, but also support food rescue organisations.•Theory-based evaluations show how the policy works in practice and help designing future reforms.
Italy recently reformed its food waste policy by introducing innovative measures, such as the possibility of donating food after the best-before date (BBD) and a significant simplification of the bureaucracy of donations. These measures are advocated by food waste specialists and are thought to increase donations almost automatically. The article performs a theory-based evaluation using the method of realist synthesis to investigate the two measures, test their implicit assumptions, and provide a more complete picture of how the policy works. The results highlight the marginal importance of bureaucratic procedures in the cost structure of donations, the diverse responses of different donors and food rescue organisations, and the importance of considering the capacity and preferences of charities when an increase in donations is expected. Further, the analysis uncovers severe reputational risks that limit both the supply of and demand for food past the BBD, despite legal provisions promoting its donation.
The effects of trace metals (iron (Fe), cobalt (Co) + Fe, and Co + nickel (Ni) + Fe) on mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste were quantified experimentally. Supplementation ...with 0 ≤ Co ≤ 5 mg/L, 0 ≤ Ni ≤ 10 mg/L, or 0 ≤ Fe ≤ 200 mg/L can significantly improve the productivity of mesophilic (MD) and thermophilic (TD) digesters. Addition of micronutrients increased biogas production, but excessive addition of trace metals hindered the production. Supplementation with Fe + Co or Fe + Co + Ni increased biogas production more than the addition of only Fe did. Within the design boundaries, the optimal concentrations for supplementation with three trace metals in MD were Co =
0
.33 mg/L, Ni =
0
.43 mg/L, and Fe =
5
.35 mg/L, and in TD were Co =
1
.41 mg/L, Ni =
3
.84 mg/L, and Fe =
200
mg/L. TD required larger amounts of the trace metals than MD (4.3-37.4 times). The results can give quantitative information on trace metal supplementation for successful anaerobic digestion.
PurposeThis work aims to assess the potential of a Bio-District as a model for applying the circular economy concerning the waste scope. It aims to understand the capability of organic farms to ...manage waste with a circular perspective, starting with the use of indicators that directly or indirectly impact the waste scope.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on previous work that identified and systematised the circular indicators of the agri-food sector within a dashboard. With this research as a basis, the indicators within the waste scope in the dashboard were extracted. Cross-linked indicators with an indirect connection to the waste scope were also systematised and tested in a case study. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. The primary data came from a semi-structured interview, and the secondary data were from official databases.FindingsThe work highlights two important results. The first allows the definition of a subclassification of indicators by product and organisation, extracting those with a cross-linked characteristic concerning the waste scope. Secondly, the indicators' application shows the farm's circular and waste valorisation potential within the Bio-District. The study also made it possible to test a new indicator, the “Potential Energy Biomass Recovery”, to measure the farm's potential to produce energy from waste.Originality/valueThis research proposes a new circular economy approach to evaluate waste management in the agri-food sector.
The demand for natural antioxidant active packaging is increasing due to its unquestionable advantages compared with the addition of antioxidants directly to the food. Therefore, the search for ...antioxidants perceived as natural, namely those that naturally occur in herbs and spices, is a field attracting great interest. In line with this, in the last few years, natural antioxidants such as α-tocopherol, caffeic acid, catechin, quercetin, carvacrol and plant extracts (e.g. rosemary extract) have been incorporated into food packaging. On the other hand, consumers and the food industry are also interested in active biodegradable/compostable packaging and edible films to reduce environmental impact, minimise food loss and minimise contaminants from industrial production and reutilisation by-products. The present review focuses on the natural antioxidants already applied in active food packaging, and it reviews the methods used to determine the oxidation protection effect of antioxidant active films and the methods used to quantify natural antioxidants in food matrices or food simulants. Lastly consumers’ demands and industry trends are also addressed.
Reduction in the amount of food loss and waste requires appropriate quantification method of the amount of food loss annually on the one hand and devising alternative use for foods that would ...otherwise end up as loss or waste. In this review, food loss and waste (FLW) were classified as avoidable, non-avoidable and possibly avoidable wastes based on inherent composition of several food categories. The current disposal methods of FLW were evaluated for its effectiveness and overall environmental impacts presented by landfills, composting and incineration. Alternative and sustainable alternative for management of food loss and waste include feedstocks for biofuel production, valuable chemicals and coproducts. This approach is renewable, environmentally friendly, improved social status through job creation for local communities and overall improved quality of life.
Background
Komagataeibacter nataicola
(
K. nataicola
) is a gram-negative acetic acid bacterium that produces natural bacterial cellulose (BC) as a fermentation product under acidic conditions. The ...goal of this work was to study the complete genome of
K. nataicola
and gain insight into the functional genes in
K. nataicola
that are responsible for BC synthesis in acidic environments.
Methods and result
The pure culture of
K. nataicola
was obtained from yeast-glucose-calcium carbonate (YGC) agar, followed by genomic DNA extraction, and subjected to whole genome sequencing on a Nanopore flongle flow cell. The genome of
K. nataicola
consists of a 3,767,936 bp chromosome with six contigs and 4,557 protein coding sequences. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree and average nucleotide identity analysis confirmed that the bacterial isolate was
K. nataicola
. The gene annotation via RAST server discovered the presence of cellulose synthase, along with three genes associated with lactate utilization and eight genes involved in lactate fermentation that could potentially contribute to the increase in acid concentration during BC synthesis.
Conclusion
A more comprehensive genome study of
K. nataicola
may shed light into biological pathway in BC productivity as well as benefit the analysis of metabolites generated and understanding of biological and chemical interactions in BC production later.
Fermentation processes have been shown to be a good approach to food waste (FW) management. Among the commodities that can be bioproduced by using FW as an organic substrate and exploiting its ...biodegradability, there is lactic acid (LA). LA has gained the interest of research because of its role in the production of polylactic acid plastics. In this study, the influence of the HRT (2-5 days) used during the fermentation of the liquid fraction (∼12-13 g COD/L) of FW on LA yield and concentration was investigated. Moreover, the changes in the chemical composition (in terms of carbohydrates and organic metabolites concentration) of the influent occurring in the feeding tank were monitored and its influence on the downstream fermentation process was examined. High instability characterized the reactor run with the optimal production yield obtained on day 129 at an HRT 2 days with 0.81 g COD/g COD. This study shows the importance of the fluctuating composition of FW, a very heterogeneous and biologically active substrate, for the LA fermentation process. The non-steady state fermentation process was directly impacted by the unstable influent and shows that a good FW storage strategy has to be planned to achieve high and constant LA production.
A significant share of food grown is not ultimately eaten. According to the FAO, roughly one-third (by weight) of global food production is lost or wasted every year. Such level of inefficiency has ...serious sustainability implications. Yet today, organisations trying to quantify food waste meet several challenges, including varying definitions and quantification approaches creating lack of comparability. In this context, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Resources Institute launched the Global Food Loss & Waste (FLW) Protocol in October 2013 in 2013 with the objective to develop a “FLW Standard” for accounting and reporting amounts of food waste across the food chain. Nestlé actively contributes to the development of the FLW Standard and conducted in 2014 a pilot project on food waste using its Pakistani dairy value chain as a case study. This case study is a first attempt to test, in a real-life setting, the main methodological principles of the FLW Protocol with a view to fuel ongoing discussions on the harmonization of food waste quantification and to contribute, with practice-based evidence, to scientific knowledge in this area. First, a literature review and interviews with experts of the Pakistani dairy sector were conducted. In addition, a one-week field trip took place in December 2014, in order to make first-hand observations throughout the supply chain. Data from Nestlé, farms, village milk centres and chilling centres, distributors, and retailers were collected. Although the overall amount of waste in a strict sense throughout the case study's supply chain is relatively limited (being ca. 1.4%),1 it appeared that the “unmet production potential” due to the gap between a low production and what could reasonably be attained is of significant magnitude and actually much bigger than the waste in a strict sense. Therefore, the quantification exercise demonstrated the vital importance of a thorough description and analysis of the supply chain in all its dimensions. Indeed, it allowed to identify issues (i.e. “unmet production potential”) that do not fall under the scope of food waste quantification in the sense of the FLW Protocol but that maybe of crucial importance at systemic level.
•This case study is a first attempt to test the methodological principles of the Food Lost Waste Protocol.•The amount of waste in a strict sense in the case study's supply chain is ca. 1.4%.•The milk “unmet production potential” is of more significant magnitude than the waste.•A thorough analysis of the supply chain allowed to identify this latter aspect.
Hospital food waste has nutritional, economic and environmental impacts, and halving food waste is a sustainable development goal. This study aimed to quantify hospital food waste and its ...nutritional, environmental and financial values in medical and surgical wards. In a cross-sectional study in three educational hospitals, nutritional and demographic data of adult inpatients were collected. The food waste was measured at breakfast, lunch and snack times, and a 24-hour food recall was fulfilled for each patient. Also, the nutritional, environmental and financial values of discarded food were calculated. Food waste contributors were determined using linear regression. Totally, 398 meals were evaluated. The average served food was about 1 kg patient−1 day−1, while 539.5 g patient−1 day−1(50.1% of the served food) was discarded. Mean food wastes were 148.9 g (standard deviation (SD): 130.1), 364.3 g (SD: 257.2) and 80.2 g (SD: 101.5) in breakfast, lunch and snacks, equal to 45.7% (SD: 36.9), 51.4% (SD: 36.1) and 62.4% (SD: 53.2) of the served food, respectively. Rice, soup, milk and fruits were mostly discarded. Severely malnourished patients had higher daily food waste. Food preparation and waste were estimated to cost on average US$1.8 and US$0.8 patient−1 day−1, respectively. Each kilogram of food waste resulted in 8.1 m2 of land use, 1.4 kg of CO2-equivalent gas emission, and about 1003 L of water wastage. Half of the hospital food was discarded which means waste of nutrients, environmental resources and money. Current data can help authorities to plan for reducing hospital food waste.
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