Edible Food Research Articles

Consumer perception and acceptance of edible packaging for various food products.

Excessive use of single-use plastic packaging presents an imminent threat to the environment. One of the emerging solutions is using edible food packaging. However, there is lack of consumer information toward edible packaging. This study evaluated consumer attitude, acceptability, and purchase intent of three types of edible food packaging: muffin liner, cranberry pomace fruit leather wrap, and powdered drink sachet. One hundred consumers who frequently consumed muffins, strawberry fruit leather, and powdered lemonade were selected from metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon to participate in the study. The panelists were presented with the edible films and the food products with the edible packaging, information card highlighting the environmental-friendly edible package, and were prompted with describing the sensory attributes, purchase intent, and qualities regarding the edible packaging with and without food. Overall, panelists liked the three foods with the edible packaging giving overall liking scores of 7.48, 8.06, and 7.48 for the muffin liners, edible fruit leather wraps, and powdered drink sachets, respectively, based on a 9-point hedonic scale where 1=dislike extremely and 9=like extremely. When asked about hypothetical purchase intent, 64%-68% of panelists positively reacted to purchase intent and would buy all three types of edible packaging products. Based on the positive reaction from panelists, edible packaging maybe a possible solution to reducing single-use plastic packaging in the food industry. This study can be the catalyst for further investigation of the efficacy of different applications of edible food packaging as well as consumer perceptions of eating their packaging. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Edible food packaging is an emerging solution for reducing single-use plastic waste. This study investigated consumer attitude, acceptability, and purchase intent of edible food packaging for three food packaging applications, including edible muffin liner, fruit leather wrap, and powdered drink sachet. This study demonstrated that consumers strongly agree that edible packaging would serve as an environmentally sustainable solution to single-use plastics, and are willing to spend more to purchase these sustainable alternatives. This study provides new information toward the future development of edible packaging and consumer perceptions of eating their packaging.

Potential Economic and Ecosystem Performances of Some Mediterranean Fruit Plants in an Urban Context

This study focuses on the possibility of using fruit tree species, from an urban area in central Italy, to evaluate their possible productive, ecosystem, and economic contribution. The realization of the food forest was conducted through the use of a web app that can evaluate the climatic and ecosystem performance of trees in the city. This simulation can provide the city’s government with useful information on the ecosystem and the socioeconomic benefits of planting fruit trees in an urban park. Among the four chosen species, both Ficus carica and Morus nigra showed good potential fruit production of 1300 kg and 865 kg and a CO2 storage of 2.5 and 1.5 tons. The production and economic potentials from selling the fruits of the selected species were evaluated, and the Morus nigra species showed the highest economic value over a 50-year period of about 6000 USD, with an average price of 7 USD/kg. Another positive aspect of edible food forest landscapes is their ability to give rise to an ecosystem and habitat that can attract animals, birds, and wildlife, consequently improving urban ecosystem biodiversity.

Isparta Yöresinin Bazı Yenilebilir Yabani Otları

The using of edible weeds in the diet of the people living in rural areas of Anatolia is quite common. Due to the awareness of natural and organic nutrition, the using of wild herbs has tended to increase in cities in recent years. In this study, it was aimed to determine the wild herbs consumed as edible food by the people in Isparta region, which has an important place in terms of plant diversity, and the consumption patterns of these herbs. This study, which was carried out in 2022 and 2023, was conducted face-to-face interviews with 100 local people in order to determine the plants consumed as traditional food by the people of Isparta. Wild plants consumed by the people of Isparta were collected and identified. In accordance with the data obtained, 23 wild edible plant taxa belonging to 15 families were determined. Questionnaire forms were analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 program. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that individuals and women between the ages of 45-65 were mainly interested in and knowledge about wild herbs and that the majority of the local people knew naturally growing plants. It has been also determined that they have knowledge about edible and non-edible wild herbs, in which period and which parts of wild herbs should be collected (flowers, leaves, roots, stems, etc.) and they had esperience how to consume it (boiling, roasting, drying, tea, etc.).

The Potential of Pediococcus acidilactici Cell-Free Supernatant as a Preservative in Food Packaging Materials.

This study delves into the production and antimicrobial characteristics of cell-free supernatants from Pediococcus acidilactici (CFSs-Pa). Antimicrobial activity was initially observed in CFS-Pa harvested after 12 h of incubation and increased up to the late stationary phase at 48 h. The increase in antimicrobial activity did not align with total protein content, pointing to other factors linked to the accumulation of organic acids, particularly lactic acid. The SDS-PAGE analysis also indicated that the expected proteinaceous compound (pediocin) was not observed in CFS-Pa. Further investigations suggested that the antimicrobial properties of CFS-Pa were exclusively due to organic acids. The MIC values confirmed potent antimicrobial activity, particularly at a 10% dilution of CFS-Pa in MRS broth. The time-kill assays demonstrated bactericidal activity against EHEC, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus by 12 h, 18 h, and 24 h using a 10% dilution of CFS-Pa. Additionally, CFS-Pa exhibited dose-dependent antioxidant activity, requiring a 70% (v/v) concentration to inhibit DPPH scavenging activity by 50%. All the experimental results suggested potential applications of CFS-Pa in food preservation. An attempt to incorporate CFS-Pa into bacterial cellulose (BC) for edible food packaging demonstrated promising antimicrobial results, particularly against L. monocytogenes and S. aureus, with room for optimization.

Proteome allocation and the evolution of metabolic cross-feeding.

In a common instance of metabolic cross-feeding (MCF), an organism incompletely metabolizes nutrients and releases metabolites that are used by another to produce energy or building blocks. Why would the former waste edible food, and why does this preferentially occur at specific locations in a metabolic pathway have challenged evolutionary theory for decades. To address these questions, we combine adaptive dynamics with an explicit model of cell metabolism, including enzyme-driven catalysis of metabolic reactions and the cellular constraints acting on the proteome that may incur a cost to expressing all enzymes along a pathway. After pointing out that cells should in principle prioritize upstream reactions when metabolites are restrained inside the cell, we show that the occurrence of permeability-driven MCF is rare and requires that an intermediate metabolite be extremely diffusive. Indeed, only at very high levels of membrane permeability (consistent with those of acetate and glycerol, for instance) and under distinctive sets of parameters should the population diversify and MCF evolve. These results help understand the origins of simple microbial communities, such as those that readily evolve in short-term evolutionary experiments, and may later be extended to investigate how evolution has progressively built up today's extremely diverse ecosystems.

Beyond colors: The health benefits of maize anthocyanins

The anthocyanins (ACN) are watersoluble pigments present in the pericarp or aleurone layer of maize kernel. The authentic color landraces being grown by the farmers at a smaller scale restricted to local consumers. These color ears (cob with color kernels) which are receiving more prominence not only for their environment friendly and natural colorant properties but also to their numerous health benefits from edible food pigments. Since anthocyanin pigments have significant effects on animal health, it is also catching the attention of food processing companies as well as highend culinary markets. In this review, we have represented functional properties of anthocyanins present in maize. Earlier, studies best on in vitro tests were extrapolatory but now using cell models and animal trials are providing foolproof evidence for functional significance of corn anthocyanins. The mechanisms of action at the cellular and molecular level have been understood.

Retracted: A Comparative Analysis of Blockchain in Enhancing the Drug Traceability in Edible Foods Using Multiple Regression Analysis

Retracted: A Comparative Analysis of Blockchain in Enhancing the Drug Traceability in Edible Foods Using Multiple Regression Analysis

Bacterial community and diversity in the rumen of 11 Mongolian cattle as revealed by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing

Through microorganism in the rumen of ruminant, plant fiber can be converted to edible food such as meat and milk. Ruminants had a rich and complex microbial community within the rumen, and the bacteria comprised the dominant proportion of the ruminal microbes. High-throughput sequencing offered a viable solution for the study of rumen microbes. In this study, rumen fluid samples were taken from 11 cattle from Inner Mongolian, the DNA of 11 rumen fluid samples were extracted and bacterial amplicons of the V4 regions of 16S rRNA were subjected to Illumina sequencing. More than 90,000 raw reads and 60,000 effect Tags per sample were obtained. 28,122 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed from 11 samples, in average 2557 ± 361 OTUs for each sample. Bacteroidetes (44.41 ± 7.31%), Firmicutes (29.07 ± 3.78%), and Proteobacteria (7.18 ± 5.63%) were the dominant phyla among the bacteria of rumen, accounting for 82%. At the genus level, the highest relative abundance was Prevotella. Their functions were predicted using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). The results showed that they included metabolism, genetic information processing, environmental information processing and cellular processes. It explored the bacterial community diversity and composition of the rumen of Mongolian cattle. On the whole, our research showed that there was a high diversity as well as rich bacterial flora function of rumen bacteria in Mongolian cattle. Meanwhile, these findings provided information for further studies on the relationship between the community, diversity, functions of rumen bacteria and the nutritional physiological functions of the host.

Exploring the therapeutic potential of edible vegetables, fruits, and spices against cancer in various cell lines.

Cancer is rapidly becoming the leading cause of death globally. This study aimed to identify edible foods with cytotoxic and/or antioxidant activities that can prevent cancer when consumed in a regular diet. Sixty-eight edible foods were purchased from the local market, and the materials were extracted with 80% methanol. The cytotoxic activity of the extracts was evaluated using MTT on HeLa, H2228, HEK293, and H3122 cell lines. To study apoptosis, triple fluorescence labeling with DAPI, Annexin V, and propidium iodide was used. The phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and free radical scavenging capabilities were studied using conventional spectrophotometric techniques. Among the edible foods, carrot, pointed gourd, wax gourd, ficus, apple, lemon, cumin seed, and white peppercorn showed moderate cytotoxicity in HeLa cells. The growth of HeLa cells was significantly inhibited dose-dependently by tomato, banana, Indian spinach, guava, lemon peel, and coriander (IC50, 24.54, 17.89, 13.18, 9.33, 1.23, and 2.96 µg/mL, respectively). Tomato, Indian spinach, lemon peel, and coriander exerted significant dose-dependent inhibition of H2228, HEK293, and H3122 cell proliferation. The tomato, Indian spinach, lemon peel, and coriander extracts induced HeLa cell apoptosis. White peppercorn, amaranth, apple, wax gourd, cumin seed, taro, and lemon peel contained significant amounts of polyphenols and showed high antioxidant activity. White peppercorn, apple, coriander, lemon peel, and ficus significantly scavenged DPPH free radicals (IC50 values of 10.23, 12.02, 13.49, 13.8, and 14.0 µg/mL, respectively). The overall results suggest that the daily intake of these antioxidant-rich cytotoxic foods can prevent or reduce the risk of cancer.

Mechanochemical extraction of edible proteins from moor grass.

Extracting edible nutrient-rich food fractions from unconventional sources, such as grass, could play a pivotal role in ensuring food security, bolstering economic prosperity, combating climate change, and enhancing overall quality of life. Current extraction techniques rely heavily on harsh chemicals, which not only degrade nutrients but can also substantially add to the cost of the process and make downstream separation challenging. In this study, we harnessed a mechanochemical process, liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) with and without Na2CO3, termed sodium carbonate assisted grinding (SAG), to extract the protein fraction from moor grass. These techniques were compared to the conventional alkaline extraction (AE) method. Unlike alkaline extraction, which solubilized over 70% of the material, the mechanochemical approach using Na2CO3 solubilized only 55% of the grass while still extracting the vast majority of the protein in the original grass feedstock. The protein fractions obtained from the SAG process had a similar amino acid profile to the core feedstock but also contained distinct characteristics over the other methods of extraction. FT-IR analysis, for example, identified the presence of an amide III band in the protein fractions obtained from the SAG process, indicating unique structural features that contribute to improved dispersibility, gelation properties, and water-in-water stability. Furthermore, the extracted moor grass protein contained a higher proportion of glutamic acid in comparison to other amino acids in the protein, which indicates a savoury umami (meaty) characteristic to the protein fraction. The protein extracted via SAG also exhibited good heat stability (139-214 °C), rendering them potentially suitable for baking applications. Additionally, coupling Na2CO3 with liquid assisted grinding not only removed the need for organic solvents and conventional heating but also reduced solvent consumption by 83%, compared with the typical alkaline extraction, thus simplifying the downstream processes necessary to produce food fractions. This study demonstrates the potential significance of mechanochemical extraction processes in unlocking nutrients from unconventional resources like grass, to produce the next generation of sustainable food ingredients.

Development of Bio-Based Smart Edible Food Packaging Using Roselle Flower Extract and Eggshell Powder as Active Agents

Recent trends revealed smart edible film can improve safety and extend the shelf life of food packaged. Cassava starch, gelatine, glycerol, roselle flower extract, and eggshell powder can be used to produce bio-based smart edible film. This study aimed to develop a bio-based smart edible film using roselle flower extract and eggshell powder. In this research, A total of six treatment were used, which was cassava starch, gelatine, glycerol (CGG) as control; control + eggshell (CGGE); control + roselle extract 15 ppm (CGGR); control + eggshell + roselle extract (15 ppm) (CGGER15); control + eggshell + roselle extract 10 ppm (CGGER10); control + eggshell + roselle extract 5 ppm (CGGER5). Parameters examined included total phenol, antioxidant activity, anthocyanins, tensile strength, elongation, water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), the color of edible film, and color, aroma, and pH of chicken meat samples. The results showed that the addition of roselle flower extract and eggshell powder had a significant effect on the parameters measured. The smart edible film has a total phenol of 367.9814-526.0559 mg GAE/100 g sample, total anthocyanins of 1.9872–4.2457 mg cy-3-glueq/100 g sample, antioxidant activity of 40.5488-96.2946%, WVTR of 96.2412-149.6401g/m2/24 hours, tensile strength of 1.4020-13.0243 N/mm2, and percent elongation of 2.242-94.7725%. Based on the parameters measured the best treatment is the CCGER15. Moreover, the smart edible film can act as indicator for the steamed chicken during storage.

Nutritional Qualities and Valorization Trends of Vegetable and Fruit Byproducts: A Comprehensive Review

Vegetable and fruit byproducts are different parts of vegetables and fruits plus secondary products derived from primary agrofood production processes. With the increasing growth of global vegetable and fruit production, utilization of their byproducts for recovery of health benefit dietary nutrients required emphasis. The current food system and manufacturers are inadequate to maximize the existing food or plant resources’ public demand concurrently to minimize environmental pollution. Important sources of nutritional qualities of these byproducts and their valorization trends are getting research interests. In this review, we have summarized the nutritional qualities and their means of valorization of vegetable and fruit byproducts which have maximum global production from the FAO (2021) published data. The nutritional qualities of the main byproducts are highlighted and the current trends to valorize them into innovative health‐promoting products were assessed. Valorization investigations conducted on these byproducts into food additives (dietary fiber concentrates), nutraceuticals, edible food packaging materials, fermented beverages, and natural dyes were mainly focused on in this review. There are limitations in valorizing technologies of vegetable and fruit byproducts. Hence, further studies are vital to develop novel processing techniques for each of these byproducts. Benefiting from the food waste is a pearl of wisdom and ignoring the value can be participating in pollution.

Peanut hulls, an underutilized nutritious culinary ingredient: valorizing food waste for global food, health, and farm economies-a narrative review.

Peanut hulls (PHs) are an edible food waste that is an underutilized food source for human consumption. While edible and palatable, currently they are mainly diverted to livestock feed or building materials. Here, we describe existing literature supporting human food valorization of PHs, and propose methods to optimize recapturing nutrients (protein, fiber, phenols and other phytonutrients) lost by treating PHs as waste. Incorporated into common foods, PHs could be processed into functional ingredients to improve nutrient-density with anticipated corresponding positive health outcomes associated with increases in plant foods. Valorization of PHs addresses multiple priorities of the UN Sustainable Development Goals using a Food Systems Approach (FSA) including reducing food waste, increasing economic opportunities for farmers, and increasing the availability of healthy shelf-stable foodstuffs to address food security. Recent advances in sustainable food processing technologies can be utilized to safely incorporate PHs into human food streams. We propose future applications that could make meaningful impacts for food availability and the nutritional composition of common foods like bread and plant-based meat alternatives. While the limited literature on this topic spans several decades, no commercial operations currently exist to process PHs for human consumption, and most literature on the topic precedes the technological "green revolution." The approaches outlined in this review may help bolster commercialization of this underutilized and nutritious food potentially improving opportunities for multiple global stakeholders.

How we can mine asteroids for space food

Abstract To deeply explore the solar system, it will be necessary to become less reliant on the resupply tether to Earth. An approach explored in this study is to convert hydrocarbons in asteroids to human edible food. After comparing the experimental pyrolysis breakdown products, which were able to be converted to biomass using a consortia, it was hypothesized that equivalent chemicals found on asteroids could also be converted to biomass with the same nutritional content as the pyrolyzed products. This study is a mathematical exercise that explores the potential food yield that could be produced from these methodologies. This study uses the abundance of aliphatic hydrocarbons in the Murchison meteorite (>35 ppm) as a baseline for the calculations, representing the minimum amount of organic matter that could theoretically be attributed to biomass production. Calculations for the total carbon in solvent-insoluble organic matter (IOM) represent the maximum amount of organic matter that could theoretically be attributed to food production. These two values will provide a range of realistic yields to determine how much food could theoretically be extractable from an asteroid. The results of this study found that if only the aliphatic hydrocarbons can be converted into biomass (minimum scenario) the resulting mass of edible biomass extractable from asteroid Bennu ranges from 5.070 × 107 g to 2.390 × 108 g. If the biomass extraction process, however, is more efficient, and all IOM is converted into edible biomass (maximum scenario), then the mass of edible biomass extractable from asteroid Bennu ranges from 1.391 × 109 g to 6.556 × 109 g. This would provide between 5.762 × 108 and 1.581 × 1010 calories that is enough to support between 600 and 17 000 astronaut life years. The asteroid mass needed to support one astronaut for one year is between 160 000 metric tons and 5000 metric tons. Based on these results, this approach of using carbon in asteroids to provide a distributed food source for humans appears promising, but there are substantial areas of future work.

Unlocking the potential of pasting properties to predict extrudate characteristics of corn grits blends with high amylose corn starch, potato starch, or rice flour.

The development of new production lines of extruded ready-to-eat (RTE) snacks often results in high losses of edible food due to the trial-and-error approach in industry. Being able to predict extrudate characteristics of new formulations before having to run trials on industrial scale would be beneficial for reducing waste and having a more efficient development process. With this study, the correlation between pasting properties of seven blends of flours/starches and extrudate characteristics was investigated (100% corn grits, 25% and 50% replacement of corn grits with high amylose starch, potato starch, and rice flour). The predictive power of pasting characteristics on extrudate's moisture content, water absorption and solubility index, sectional expansion index (SEI) and hardness was studied. Results indicated the potential of predicting SEI, water solubility index (WSI), and water absorption index (WAI) of RTE-snacks. WSI and WAI were, respectively, negatively correlated with peak temperature (R2 =0.897), and positively with peak temperature and positively with trough viscosity (R2 =0.855). One can conclude that the rheometer can be a useful tool to gain insight into the characteristics of the extrudate, although further research with enlargement of the dataset is necessary to make the rheometer effectively deployable for potentially other extrudate characteristics.

Un-settling the frontiers of food waste in the Netherlands: infrastructural stories of food waste transformation in the Hague

Transformation opens possibilities to imagine and learn other forms of being and living together; it implies change, and often exchange. This paper visibilises the infrastructural stories involved in the transformation of food waste into edible food. Conceptually, we assume there is no univocal definition of food waste. Methodologically, we resist the practice of extracting and appropriating the life (hi)stories of the people involved in these transformative initiatives who are often described as vulnerable “others.” Instead, the project highlights the stories of the infrastructures underpinning these transformative experiences. The objective is to unsettle the frontier of what counts as food waste by paying attention to the objects involved in the process of transforming it into edible food. The paper starts by positioning ourselves in the literature regarding food waste governance and infrastructural labor as transformative possibilities that support the development of personal sustainability strategies and grassroots food governance. In the second section we explain our methodological considerations to focus on the infrastructures that mediate the transformation of disposed food into edible food in The Hague. The third section presents the results and discusses the stories of two objects, a cargo bike (bakfiets) and a fridge (koelkast). We suggest these objects serve to unsettle governance practices and narratives related to food waste in the city. Paying attention to these objects’ stories is an important turn in personal sustainability research because it enables us to see that the individual is never alone, always acting with the support of often invisible objects that in this study make possible the reduction and transformation of wasted food. This serves as inspiration to imagine alternative paths for food waste governance and foster forms of collective engagement, urgently needed given the increasing precariousness of food systems and relations.

Strategies to Reduce Fossil Fuel Use in Food Manufacturing.

Our food production relies on the input of fossil fuels to create the high variety of different food products currently on the market. This reliance has caused challenges due to the inherent emissions generated by the combustion of fossil fuels and the dependence of many countries on only a small number of fossil fuel suppliers. This review aims to look at these challenges and discusses several mitigation strategies to reduce the usage of fossil fuels in the food processing part of the food value chain. In this specific step, there is substantial potential to change the type of energy that is used to transform the raw materials into an edible food matrix because the operations mainly include processes that rely often on natural gas for heating and electricity that is used for machine operation and cooling. Both energy sources can be replaced by clean and renewable alternatives, especially with alternative heating options such as geothermal heating and electrical boilers being installed and offered more frequently. However, short-term solutions like energy reduction through process optimization and the integration of smart sensors can also help to reduce the overall energy use in the short term. These strategies are outlined in this review along with in-depth analyses of the types of energy used in food processing, the available clean and renewable energy technologies that do not rely on fossil fuels, and the current hurdles and limitations. It becomes evident that most of the required technologies are already available on the market and that considerable investments are necessary to implement a comprehensive energy strategy that does not rely on fossil fuels in food manufacturing.

Determinants of municipal‐level household food waste

AbstractThis research investigates the long‐run determinants of per capita food waste, using a monthly time series dataset collected from the Taipei City Food Scraps Recycling Program, covering a span of 19 years. In addition, this research introduces a new proxy for the food wastage rate, gauged by the ratio of edible‐to‐inedible food scraps. The results of time‐series cointegration analysis show that per capita edible food scraps and socioeconomic factors are bound together over the long run. Specifically, per capita edible food waste displays a positive co‐movement with food price, the working‐age share, and household size, while exhibiting a negative co‐movement with the old‐age share. This insight empowers policymakers with the ability to foresee and tackle the food waste problem by acting on the municipality's demographic and economic structural change. Our analysis complements the existing studies that depend on cross‐sectional individual‐level data by adopting a long‐run municipal‐level time series perspective. [EconLit Citations: Q11, Q13, Q18, D1].

MiR482f and miR482c-5p from edible plant-derived foods inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in human THP-1 macrophages

BackgroundEdible plants can exert anti-inflammatory activities in humans, being potentially useful in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Plant-derived microRNAs have emerged as cross-kingdom gene expression regulators and could act as bioactive molecules involved in the beneficial effects of some edible plants. We investigated the role of edible plant-derived microRNAs in the modulation of pro-inflammatory human genes.MethodsMicroRNAs from plant-derived foods were identified by next-generation sequencing. MicroRNAs with inflammatory putative targets were selected, after performing in silico analyses. The expression of candidate plant-derived miRNAs was analyzed by qPCR in edible plant-derived foods and their effects were evaluated in THP-1 monocytes differentiated to macrophages. The bioavailability of candidate plant miRNAs in humans was evaluated in feces and serum samples by qPCR.ResultsmiR482f and miR482c-5p are present in several edible plant-derived foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and cooked legumes and cereals, and fats and oils. Transfections with miR482f and miR482c-5p mimics decreased the gene expression of CLEC7A and NFAM1, and TRL6, respectively, in human THP-1 monocytes differentiated to macrophages, which had an impact on gene expression profile of inflammatory biomarkers. Both microRNAs (miR482f and miR482c-5p) resisted degradation during digestion and were detected in human feces, although not in serum.ConclusionOur findings suggest that miR482f and miR482c-5p can promote an anti-inflammatory gene expression profile in human macrophages in vitro and their bioavailability in humans can be achieved through diet, but eventually restricted at the gut level.

College students observe waste of edible food, and make recommendations

In this exploratory study, content analysis of think piece essays examined college student descriptions of food waste, what they believed caused this waste, and the solutions that they recommended for reducing it. Students enrolled in a non-major nutrition class completed a module on food safety and sustainability prior to writing reflective essays that incorporated concepts learned in class as well as reflections on their own experiences as they observed food waste in retail environments and in their homes. Two themes emerged: how food waste happens and how to reduce food waste. A variety of settings was described including grocery stores, restaurants, catered events, and homes. Consumer behavior in retail environments, such as bruising fresh produce and reliance on expiration labels, was cited as a causative factor as was waste in restaurants by both staff and customers. Recommendations for reducing food waste included small portions both at home and when dining out, education on how to shop, store, and prepare food, and increased use of donation.