Abstract
We analyze food-item level data collected from 50 adults from the United States using the Remote Food Photography Method® to provide the first estimates of plate waste gathered from adults across multiple consecutive meals and days in free-living conditions, and during laboratory-based meals with fixed food items and quantities. We find average plate waste in free-living conditions is 5.6 grams (7.7 kcals) per item and that 3.3% of all food selected is returned as plate waste, where the percent waste figure is substantially lower than previously published plate waste estimates gathered primarily from dine-out settings in the United States such as buffets and institutional settings with limited-choice meals (e.g., school cafeterias). Plate waste from the same participants during the laboratory-based meals is significantly higher with an average of 203.2 grams of solid plate waste per meal (531.3 kcals) or 39.1% of the food provided, which is similar to the plate waste percentages found reported in some school cafeteria settings. The amount of plate waste generated in free-living conditions is significantly positively associated with portion size selected for an item. In a multivariate analysis that controls for macronutrient profile, items selected from the vegetables, fats/oils/dressings, and grains categories are associated with significantly greater amounts of plate waste per item. We find no significant associations between free-living plate waste and gender, age, race or body mass index but find that women leave more plate waste in the lab meal where portion sizes are pre-determined by the researcher and similar for all respondents. We discuss possible implications of these findings for programs focused on reducing plate waste and food waste among consumers.
Highlights
Countries around the world have resolved to reduce food waste in an attempt to advance food security, environmental sustainability and economic efficiency goals [1,2,3,4]
The current study provides another source of evidence linking portion size and plate waste, and further supports the use of the RFPM1 and similar methods to: 1) quantify factors that affect food waste and/or intake, such as serving size or second servings, and 2) evaluate if policies and interventions are effectively changing food selection and other factors in an attempt to reduce food waste and/or intake
Given the validity of the RFPM1 for measuring food selection, plate waste, and food intake, we introduce the possibility that at least one component of total food waste is a smaller concern than previous thought and that a larger proportion of food waste occurs during food preparation and through discarding spoiled or unwanted food
Summary
Countries around the world have resolved to reduce food waste in an attempt to advance food security, environmental sustainability and economic efficiency goals [1,2,3,4]. More than 40% of food waste occurs at the retail and consumer level in industrialized economies [5]. Plate waste–food that is served on individual plates but not consumed–is among the largest sources of avoidable food waste generated within households and represents about 30% of all avoidable. The Van Buren program at Ohio State University and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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