Food losses and wastage within food supply chain: a critical review of its generation, impact, and conversion techniques

This review aims to synthesize previous literature with a focus on food loss or waste measurement, generation, causes, and impacts, including sustainable solutions. It has been estimated that the volume of food lost or wasted in five different food classes varies from production to consumption and differs greatly between low- and high-income countries. This study suggested certain mitigations to reduce food loss or waste in developed and developing countries. In the effective management of food loss or waste, a succession of solutions may be adopted and prioritized in a manner comparable to the waste management hierarchy. According to the food loss or waste hierarchy, the first and most desired action to prevent food waste is to minimize food surplus and unnecessary food waste. Food donation to low-income populations through food bank organizations or social sectors is the second most appealing alternative, and turning food waste into animal feed is the third most appealing option. The authors described accessing the environment, economic and social impact, and intervention to prevent or reduce food loss or waste. Reduced food loss or waste prevents the waste of land, water, energy, and other resources incorporated in food and is thus critical to enhancing food system sustainability. The sustainable approaches for food waste management were then discussed with detailed elaboration on the most commonly practiced disposal and recycling methods for product recovery, as well as industrial applications via thermal and chemical treatment. In conclusion, this paper presents the outlook of the overall framework and suggests an outline of future directions in this field.

Graphical abstract