The impact of food preservation on food waste

Sensory, textural, physico-chemical and enzymatic characterization of melted cheese with added potato and carrot peels

Food waste is one of the biggest societal problems in the globe due to its detrimental consequences on the environment. According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization, this comes to about 1.3 billion tonnes per year. The current study aims to produce sustainable food products with high nutritional value by incorporating food waste. For the extraction of economically relevant products such as dietary fibers, biopolymers, natural antioxidants, and food additives, potato and carrot peel represent an inexpensive, valuable, and conveniently available resource. Cheese is a functional dairy product that people eat for its high nutritional content, which aids in the treatment of conditions including diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and digestive problems in addition to giving them energy. Thus a control sample and 10 samples of melted cheese with various amounts of potato and carrot peelings were prepared. To explore the nutritional value of potato and carrot peels in melted cheese, an analysis was conducted on the fluctuation of physicochemical (acidity, pH, dry matter, water activity, and salt content) and enzymatic (L-lactic acid, lactose, D-glucose, and D-galactose) parameters. Consumer acceptability of the products was assessed by textural and sensory analysis. During the whole storage period, the samples of melted cheese with potato and carrot peels recorded higher values than the control sample, the results obtained for them being better. Samples with added potato or carrot wastes were more stable over time, as compared to control samples.

Factors affecting food waste: A bibliometric review on the household behaviors

Sustainability issues such as food insecurity, climate change, land degradation, economic development and food waste are the actual most important challenges at the global level. Among them, the food waste (FW) challenge has a great magnitude, emphasizing the importance of examining this issue. Specifically, there is a need to focus on the household level. Thus, this study aims to investigate and identify the main factors influencing FW household behaviors on which policymakers and stakeholders could outline specific and sustainable strategies. Starting from a large number of published studies on this subject with a similar aim but focusing on specific Countries or contexts, the goal of our study is achieved through the implementation of a systematic literature review followed by a bibliometric review using the VOSviewer software. The selected query generated a total of 235 matching papers from which only 111 papers were collected for the bibliometric review because of the inclusion criteria. The analysis showed the existence of four major research strands: the largest one analyses the antecedents of behavior during food management, including the implementation of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Other detected topics are the economic impact of FW, the effects generated by the Covid-19 pandemic on consumer behaviors, and finally, the environmental and social effects of FW. The objective of this study is to investigate and identify the main factors influencing FW household behaviors. The obtained output represents useful information for policymakers and stakeholders to outline specific and sustainable strategies to reduce FW.

Fostering food preservation practice: Lessons from a community train-the-trainer program on Canada's west coast

Local food systems programs in Canada's rural and remote communities support residents to improve their access to healthy food by strengthening various social practices within the system. Designing programs to strengthen social practices can help address food insecurity by providing a support structure where people can build competencies and access materials necessary to engage in practices like food preservation, and make meanings that will encourage them to sustain their engagement. The elements needed for successfully establishing a social practice–competencies, materials, and meanings–must be present. Unfortunately, food preservation programs in Canada's local food systems have not fully embedded structures to bring all three elements of social practice together or undertake a participant-focused program assessment. Consequently, we do not know the potential of local food preservation to meet peoples' various needs or the challenges that program participants experience practicing food preservation. This paper uses a social practice framework to determine the extent to which a community food preservation program on Canada's west coast strengthened the three elements of social practice. Findings from interviews show that in line with the paper's three objectives, participants of a community train-the-trainer program (1) built and shared food preservation competencies, (2) accessed materials to practice food preservation, and (3) formed meanings to support their continuous engagement in food preservation. The paper shows how a social practice framework can support a participant-focused program evaluation and provide a practical and straightforward tool for assessing food systems programs.

The Influence of Selected Food Safety Practices of Consumers on Food Waste Due to Its Spoilage

Food waste in households is a consequence of the accumulation of improper practices employed by consumers when dealing with food. The survey estimated the impact of practices of Polish respondents, in the context of selected food safety and hygiene issues, on throwing away food due to spoilage. The survey was conducted in 2019, in a random quota-based, nationwide sample of 1115 respondents 18 years old and older. Synthetic indicators (SI) were created to assess the knowledge and practices of Polish adult respondents concerning selected areas of food management and the frequency of throwing food away. Most food products were not thrown away at all or were thrown away occasionally. Regression analysis revealed that the frequency of throwing food away was to the greatest extent related to food spoilage (β = 0.223). Among the five areas of Polish respondents’ practices covered by the analysis, the most conducive to wasting food due to spoilage were improper proceedings with food after bringing it home (β = 0.135; p = 0.000), a failure to ensure proper food storage conditions (β = 0.066; p = 0.030), or inappropriate proceedings with uneaten meals, excluding the food plate (β = 0.066; p = 0.029). To reduce food waste in Polish households, drawing the attention of consumers to the conditions of food storage at home seems appropriate. It is also vital to convince them to use freezing of uneaten food as an effective method of extending the life of food products.

The internet of things in the food supply chain: adoption challenges

Purpose

The food supply chain (FSC) challenges coupled with global disruptions, such as the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, exacerbate its vulnerability. The Internet of things (IoT) is one of the disruptive technologies being adopted in food supply chain management (FSCM). This study aims to address the challenges of IoT adoption in the FSC by systematically analyzing the prior pertinent literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured literature review was used to collate a list of peer-reviewed and relevant publications. A total of 72 out of 210 articles were selected for the final evaluation.

Findings

The literature review findings suggest five themes: technical, financial, social, operational, educational and governmental related challenges. A total of 15 challenges were devised from the review related literature of IoT adoption. The study concludes with future research recommendations for scholars and practical implications for practitioners.

Research limitations/implications

While this study focuses on the overall FSC, further research should address other domains in the FSC such as cold supply chain, agriculture and perishable food to gain a better contextual understanding of the specific case.

Originality/value

The topic of IoT adoption in the FSCM is still considered emerging. Therefore, the present work contributes to the limited studies and documentation on the level of IoT implementation in the FSCM. This study should help organizations to assimilate how to adopt and manage the IoT application by addressing the factors and challenges presented in this research.

Fields of Action for Designing Measures to Avoid Food Losses in Logistics Networks

The literature contains many analyses of measures against food loss. However, there exists no structured analysis of the objective of these measures. This study employs a systematic literature analysis and open expert interviews, combining the perspectives of science and practice. For each analyzed case, we identified the objectives behind the implemented measures. Using qualitative clustering, we categorized the located objectives into fields of action. The identified 13 fields of action provide an overview of the objectives of food loss prevention measures. The results indicate that different levels of importance can be assigned to these fields of action. In particular, the results show the relevance of increased network cooperation and transparency within a company and along the entire value chain. Furthermore, the study indicates that the creation of transparency provides the greatest overall added value in terms of reducing food losses.

Interacting with Members of the Public to Discuss the Impact of Food Choices on Climate Change-Experiences from Two UK Public Engagement Events

Food systems contribute to up to 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and emissions are increasing. Since the emissions vary greatly between different foods, citizens’ choices can make a big difference to climate change. Public engagement events are opportunities to communicate these complex issues: to raise awareness about the impact of citizens’ own food choices on climate change and to generate support for changes in all food system activities, the food environment and food policy. This article summarises findings from our ‘Take a Bite Out of Climate Change’ stand at two UK outreach activities during July 2019. We collected engagement information in three main ways: (1) individuals were invited to complete a qualitative evaluation questionnaire comprising of four questions that gauged the person’s interests, perceptions of food choices and attitudes towards climate change; (2) an online multiple-choice questionnaire asking about eating habits and awareness/concerns; and (3) a token drop voting activity where visitors answered the question: ‘Do you consider greenhouse gases when choosing food?’ Our results indicate whether or not people learnt about the environmental impacts of food (effectiveness), how likely they are to move towards a more climate-friendly diet (behavioural change), and how to gather information more effectively at this type of event.