American Expatriate Costa Rica

Food waste: alarming data

About 40% of food in Costa Rica is wasted or thrown away, even before being served at the table. In addition, 60% is lost for not being consumed on time.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that more than 1,300 million tonnes of food are wasted every year worldwide.

In most cases, this loss is due to poor planning and misuse of raw materials.

Global studies inform that 27% of food is wasted by consumers, 28% is lost during the production process, 17% is wasted in markets and distribution processes and 6% during processing.

To stop wasting food, follow these recommendations:

-Buy what is really needed by planning a weekly consumption.
-It is important to understand that “expiration date” indicates that food can be consumed safely only until that date and “best before” indicates that the product will maintain the quality expected until that date.
-Store food following the package instructions. You need to know if they need refrigeration, freezing or to be kept in room temperature.

crhoy.com