On the occasion of the opening of the food fair ANUGA on October 10, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture presented the results of a survey on food waste. For the study, TNS Emnid survey 1.015 people in Germany about their food disposal behavior at home as well as in restaurants. The study came to the following results:
- 42% claimed to throw away food at least once a week, among school students the share augments to even 69%.
- Main reasons for food disposal are spoiled food (70%), followed by insufficient use of leftovers (53%) and expiration of the best-before date (43%).
- More than half of the respondents would rarely or never take home food leftovers from restaurants. Reasons for this include a lack of knowledge on the possibilities (10%), the impression that taking left overs home is embarrassing (16 %) or unusual (19 %) or the hassle of transporting the leftovers (15%).
With campaigns such as “Zu gut für die Tonne“ and “Beste-Reste-Box“ the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture wants to encourage a more consciousness handling of food waste and promote taking home leftovers from restaurants. Christian Schmidt, Minister for Food and Agriculture, commented on the study results as follows: “We have to increase the awareness and appreciation of food among consumers as well as the industry. Since especially young people waste an above average share of food, we take our initiative “Zu gut für die Tonne” directly into the schools. Nutritional and consumer education has to become an integral part of curricular contents.”
More information and survey results
Source: Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture