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The application of global indices of nutrition and food sustainability in public health and the improvement of product profiles has facilitated effective actions that increase food security. In the research reported here we develop index measurements further so that they can be applied to food categories and be used by food processors and manufacturers for specific food supply chains. This research considers how they can be used to assess the sustainability of supply chain operations by stimulating more incisive food loss and waste reduction planning. The research demonstrates how an index driven approach focussed on improving both nutritional delivery and reducing food waste will result in improved food security and sustainability. Nutritional improvements are focussed on protein supply and reduction of food waste on supply chain losses and the methods are tested using the food systems of Kenya and India where the current research is being deployed. Innovative practices will emerge when nutritional improvement and waste reduction actions demonstrate market success, and this will result in the co-development of food manufacturing infrastructure and innovation programmes. The use of established indices of sustainability and security enable comparisons that encourage knowledge transfer and the establishment of cross-functional indices that quantify national food nutrition, security and sustainability. The research presented in this initial study is focussed on applying these indices to specific food supply chains for food processors and manufacturers.

The purpose of this paper is to measure food loss and waste by material flow analysis (MFA) tool. Applying this methodology, the authors estimate wastage-related losses and discuss opportunities for more circular and sustainable practices in the Italian potato industry.

MFA is applied to two specific typologies as follows: ready-to-eat (chips) and dried potato products produced in Italy. The analysis refers to the year 2017 as the complete dataset useful for this study includes measurements until this year. A bottom-up and top-down mixed approach is applied, and functional unit refers to 1 t of potatoes consumed as final product.

MFA is applied to quantify and qualify material balance associated with 1 t of potatoes consumed as final product. In Italy, in 2017, more than 22,000 t of fresh tubers were lost, including 3,500–4,800 t of starch, equivalent to 52,800–72,600 GJs. Moreover, fewer than 23,000 t of skins and scraps were produced within industrial plants, not available for food but suitable for animal feed (dry skins are an excellent carbohydrates source in cattle and poultry feed), starch industry and bioenergy production (biogas and/or bioethanol).

This research is one of the few studies proposing MFA methodology as a tool to measure food waste. This analysis shows its utility in terms of food waste quality/quantity evaluation, supporting both company management and policymakers.

Given the importance of food waste in the economic, social, health and environmental dimensions, the purpose of this work is to detect, through a systematic and configurative literature review on food-waste-measurement methodologies, the global approaches, characteristics, limitations, opportunities and results applied within the literature. The analysis of these papers provides useful information about how far we are from international action plans and, therefore, how we need to direct programs and policies to measure and reduce food waste and ensure food security and food safety.

The authors have conducted a systematic, configurative literature review on food waste measurement methodologies applied only within empirical studies published in academic peer-reviewed scientific journals. Based on the Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 of May 3, 2019 (OJEU, 2019) regarding common methodologies and minimum quality requirements for the homogeneous assessment of food waste quantities and composition, the authors investigated the issue on Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) from June 2000 to June 2020. The authors researched keywords within article titles, abstracts and author keywords by utilizing 34 different research strings.

The proposed review particularly refers to following topics: measurement methodologies applied according to the Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597; editorial placement and publication timeline; geographical area; food supply-chain stage and publication journals; and the main features, limitations, opportunities and results for each measurement methodology as presented by authors. Among the first 48,000 results, only 58 academic articles are perfectly in line with the aim of the review, highlighting the lack of standardized methodologies, the limits of those proposed and the deficiency of comparable results to achieve sustainable international goals.

The proposed review is one of the few concerning food waste measurement methodologies. Food waste measurement is essential to rebalance the actual inadequate food system and to switch it toward a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly one, thereby (1) managing the human nutrition system paradox of hungry, undernourished and over-weight people; (2) reducing food insecurity; (3) ensuring each living being's access to healthy, nutritious and sustainable food; and (4) reducing environmental impacts (neutral or positive impact) and the loss of biodiversity and mitigating climate change.

The purpose of this study is to investigate what consumers think about food waste, best before date (BBD) and appreciation of food in the context of a model project in the food-retailing sector. The focus was on the following key questions: How is the issue of food waste itself perceived by consumers? What understanding of the BBD was present in the sample and what do consumers imagine under the term appreciation in the context of food? The study also included an evaluation of the acceptance of the model project by customers. In this project, food no longer suitable for sale was distributed free of charge to visitors of a supermarket via a freely accessible refrigerator.

The research design was based on a mixed methods approach in an explorative sequential design. First a qualitative survey was conducted via interviews (n = 8) with customers, and the results were used for a subsequent quantitative survey (n = 88) in the supermarket.

The majority of those questioned were sensitized to the topics of food waste, BBD and appreciation of food. The results of the interviews and the questionnaires revealed a consistently positive opinion about the model project. These results indicate potential for reducing food losses among consumers and in food retailing and for improving appreciation.

This was the first study conducted as part of a model project in the retail sector in the context of food waste. The study also investigated within in the project what people think about the BBD, food losses and appreciation. At the same time, the acceptance of the project was assessed.

Food waste is acknowledged as a major environmental issue, but the retail sector has only begun to recognise this in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to answer when, how and why food waste became important for retail in Sweden.

A mixed-methods approach was used that included a literature review, quantitative data from retail, field studies, 11 interviews and a media study consisting of newspaper articles spanning 10 years. The combined methods provided qualitative rigor and saturation.

Results show that the increased interest in the issue stems from several factors working together. These factors include the availability of data, the formation of actor networks working together, increased societal environmental awareness, attitude change amongst consumers and retail, and the role of media as an actor and a method for making the issue visible. In addition, results show how the issue surfaced further, as more data became available. Findings suggest that food waste became an environmental issue, and later, the focus shifted to finding solutions for retail.

The results highlight the importance for policy to implement preventive measures and strengthen incentives for retail to work with reducing food waste. Such incentives should target cheap food, education, routines, legislation and business models throughout the food chain.

The purpose is to explore consumer acceptance of the doggy bag as an intervention to promote sustainable food consumption. In particular, it explores consumer attitudes towards taking home the leftover food from eating out at restaurants as a way of sustainable consumption.

A consumer survey to explore consumer attitudes, followed by an investigation of the media communications that promote the doggy bag as a tool to reduce food wastage.

Strategic communication was employed in an inclusive approach to increase the impact of the doggy bag on consumer behaviour. Consumers show a positive inclination towards using the doggy bag to take home the leftovers of their restaurant meals and reduce food wastage. Cultural biases can cause hurdles in the acceptance of the tool.

To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to approach the behavioural analysis of leftover food takeout interventions studied from the consumer perspective. Furthermore, it is based on a novel approach of experimental methods at ready-to-eat food outlets for communicating with consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitatively supported explanation of the intellectual development, the schools of thought and the sub-areas of the food cold chain (FCC) research to derive meaningful avenues for future research.

This study builds on bibliometric analysis and network analysis to systematically evaluate a sample of 1,189 FCC articles published over the past 25 years. The descriptive statistics and science mapping approaches using co-citation analysis were performed with VOSviewer software.

The findings reveal a state-of-the-art overview of the top contributing and influential countries, authors, institutions and articles in the area of FCC research. A co-citation analysis, coupled with content analysis of most co-cited articles, uncovered four underlying research streams including: application of RFID technologies; production and operation planning models; postharvest waste, causes of postharvest wastage and perishable inventory ordering polices and models; and critical issues in FCC. Current research streams, clusters and their sub-themes provided meaningful discussions and insights into key areas for future research in FCC.

This study might reshape practitioners’, researchers’ and policy-makers’ views on the multifaceted areas and themes in the FCC research field, to harness FCC’s benefits at both strategic and tactical level. Finally, the research findings offer a roadmap for additional research to yield more practical and modeling insights that are much needed to enrich the field.

This paper analyzes two external costs often associated with port development, cost to fisheries from marine dredge disposal and damages from air pollution, using estimates of development and operation for a proposed (but since cancelled) container port as a case study. For dredge disposal, a bio-economic model was used to assess short- and long-term and indirect (joodweb) damages to fisheries from marine disposal of clean sediments. In the case of air pollution, estimates of annual activity levels and emission coefficients are used to estimate incremental annual emissions of three key pollutants (NOx, HC and CO) for trucks, trains, yard vehicles, and vessels. These estimates allow for phasing in of strict new air pollution regulations. For both external costs, sensitivity analyses are used to reflect uncertainty. Estimates of shadow values in year 2002 dollars amount from $0.094 per cubic yard to $0.169 per cubic yard of clean dredged material for the selected disposal site and from $0.0584 per mile (jor current control standards) to $ 0. 0023 per mile (after phasing in of new regulations) for air pollution from heavy trucks.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between food preservation and reducing consumer waste is of value in developing sustainable meal options. The research reports insights into Austrian marketplace for frozen and fresh foods that have been obtained from a consumer survey.

The consumer survey methodologies indicate how preservation can change meal planning and lower food waste across frozen and fresh and ambient food purchases using freezing preservation methods.

The results show food waste can be reduced by six-fold when frozen foods are compared with fresh foods.

This study highlights the requirement for a greater understanding of the probability that specific foods will be wasted with respect to the frequency of purchase. This is a limitation of the current study that has been investigated by other researchers.

This research has enabled the identification of different food waste amounts for different food product categories. The data presented could be used to guide food product development so that less consumer waste is produced.

The research suggests a decision matrix approach can be used to can guide new product development and a model of this matrix is presented so that it may provide fit-for-purpose food preservation options for consumers.

This paper will continue to highlight the overlooked value of food preservation during processing and manufacturing of foods and their preparation in households.