Study explores cause of high US food waste

According to a study by the scientific journal Plos One, 53 percent of Americans who admit to disposing of food also admit they aren’t willing to become proactive in preventing food waste, a report by MarketWatch says. While over 42 percent of Americans agree that disposing of food is a waste of money, nearly one-quarter say they don’t have enough time to worry about it.

Around 40 percent of food is wasted in the U.S., according to the report. Americans throw away $165 billion worth of food every year. Fifty-three percent of Americans claim they buy food in bulk, and the same percentage claims it would be too difficult for their homes to reduce their food waste.

According to the report, 15 percent of this uneaten food would be enough to feed more than 25 million Americans every year.

The study credits these statistics to Americans misinterpreting food labels. Over 90 percent of Americans misinterpret expiration dates. Phrases such as “sell by,” “use by” and “best before” are infrequently regulated.

“Sell by” dates, the report says, are meant for stores to know how much shelf life the product has. “Best before” or “use by” dates are for consumers and are created by the manufacturers. Often, supermarkets don’t sell “imperfect” food and removes food from shelves when it doesn’t meet a certain standard, despite it still being good to eat.

According to the report, the Plos One study states that around 70 percent of respondents tossed their food because they feared illness. Sixty percent said it was necessary to ensure meals stay fresh.

“If the U.S. is to reach its recently announced goal of reducing food waste by 50 percent by the year 2030, US consumers must be an integral part of any successful plan,” the co-authors of the Plos One study, Danyi Qi, a PhD student in the Department of Agriculture at The Ohio State University and Brian Roe, a professor in the same department, said in the report.