Microbial spoilage is challenge for a range of food industries and is also a major contributor to global food waste. In order to prevent and reduce microbial food spoilage, evidence-based strategies must be implemented throughout supply chains. To this end, the studies presented here contribute to (i) methods for monitoring spoilage microorganisms, (ii) improved understanding of sources and mechanisms of transmission of microorganisms into food, and (iii) potential strategies to implement at the various points in food supply chains aimed at preventing and reducing microbial spoilage. While microbial spoilage originating from sources throughout the food chain is an issue for many sectors, the studies presented here focus specifically on dairy and fresh produce. In the area of dairy quality, we provided insights into spore enumeration methods for milk powders and identified a set of methods that captures a wide range of variation in spore count across powders. We also contributed to understanding of routes of transmission of spoilage microorganisms into raw milk; specifically, we found bedding material had a direct influence on levels of spores in unused and used bedding, as well as an indirect association with spore levels in bulk tank raw milk through used bedding spore levels. Furthermore, we identified strategies at farm and processing levels for reducing microbial spoilage of dairy products. At the farm-level, we identified specific bedding and farm management practices associated with spores in bedding and bulk tank raw milk. At the processing-level, we identified important quality management practices associated with fluid milk spoilage due to post-pasteurization contamination, including cleaning and sanitation, employee training, and quality testing programs. Preventing microbial spoilage is also challenge for the fresh produce industry, yet relative to dairy, research in the area of microbial spoilage of fresh produce has been limited. Our foundational study of bacterial dynamics on spinach for a supply chain located in Northeast China, from point-of-harvest through shelf life, improved understanding of factors associated with spinach spoilage. Overall, these studies expand our understanding of microbial spoilage of dairy foods and fresh produce and will facilitate implementation evidence-based strategies for preventing and reducing microbial spoilage.

Approximately 30 percent of the edible food produced in the United States is wasted and a significant portion of this waste occurs at the consumer level. Despite food's essential role as a source of nutrients and energy and its emotional and cultural importance, U.S. consumers waste an estimated average of 1 pound of food per person per day at home and in places where they buy and consume food away from home. Many factors contribute to this wasteâ€"consumers behaviors are shaped not only by individual and interpersonal factors but also by influences within the food system, such as policies, food marketing and the media. Some food waste is unavoidable, and there is substantial variation in how food waste and its impacts are defined and measured. But there is no doubt that the consequences of food waste are severe: the wasting of food is costly to consumers, depletes natural resources, and degrades the environment. In addition, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has severely strained the U.S. economy and sharply increased food insecurity, it is predicted that food waste will worsen in the short term because of both supply chain disruptions and the closures of food businesses that affect the way people eat and the types of food they can afford. A National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste at the Consumer Level identifies strategies for changing consumer behavior, considering interactions and feedbacks within the food system. It explores the reasons food is wasted in the United States, including the characteristics of the complex systems through which food is produced, marketed, and sold, as well as the many other interconnected influences on consumers' conscious and unconscious choices about purchasing, preparing, consuming, storing, and discarding food. This report presents a strategy for addressing the challenge of reducing food waste at the consumer level from a holistic, systems perspective.

Even as malnutrition in the form of hunger and obesity affect the health and well-being of millions of people worldwide, a significant amount of food is lost or wasted every day, in every country, and at every stage in the supply chain from the farm to the household. According to a 2011 estimate by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about one-third of food produced is lost or wasted globally. Beyond quantity estimates, however, less is known about the impacts on farmers, food prices, food availability, and environment of reducing food loss and waste. On October 17, 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine organized a workshop to examine key challenges that arise in reducing food loss and waste throughout the supply chain and discussed potential ways to address these challenges. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

This book focuses on the crucial sustainability challenge of reducing food waste at the level of consumer-society. Providing an in-depth, research-based overview of the multifaceted problem, it considers environmental, economic, social and ethical factors. Perspectives included in the book address households, consumers, and organizations, and their role in reducing food waste. Rather than focusing upon the reasons for food waste itself, the chapters develop research-based solutions for the problem, providing a much-needed solution-orientated approach that takes multiple perspectives into account. Chapters 1, 2, 12 and 16 of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

Food waste is a global concern already identified to be addressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (12.3) and the EU policy agenda under the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Green Deal within the Farm to Fork Strategy. The EU has committed to halving food waste at the retail and consumer level following SDG 12.3, establishing legally binding reduction targets and enabling their reach through the setting of baseline measurement and uniform monitoring. Across the Member States, most food waste occurs at the consumer level. Therefore, reducing consumer food waste is critical for achieving future EU-level targets for food waste reduction. Consumer food waste (both in- and out-of-home) - whilst influenced by the food supply chain and food environment - is essentially a behavioural issue. The behavioural factors underlying consumers' decisions to discard food need to be uncovered, and consumer-focused interventions have to be adequately designed to deliver on the ambitious target reduction. To address the existing research gaps, the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) established a multi-disciplinary forum of researchers and practitioners in the area of consumer food waste prevention under the pilot project called the European Consumer Food Waste Forum (ECFWF). The ECFWF will issue research- and evidence-based recommendations and develop tools to help reduce consumer food waste, aiming to produce a compendium of best practices and recommendations to facilitate the uptake of effective interventions. To this end, there was the need to 1) define the scope, i.e., the type of interventions, tools, best practices and recommendations to be explored, and 2) to develop an evaluation framework specifically tailored for consumer interventions. This has been done by 1) conducting several literature reviews on the state of the art of intervention evaluation and available frameworks, and on the main food drivers and levers of consumer food waste, 2) organising a virtual workshop, meetings and gathering written feedback on the discussed topics from ECFWF members. This report outlines the scope of the ECFWF and the evaluation framework for consumer food waste prevention interventions. The latter is complemented with a data protocol for the collection of information on interventions and some selected tools, best practices, and recommendations agreed under the scope of the ECFWF.

"This study provides a worldwide account of the environmental footprint of food wastage along the food supply chain, focusing on impacts on climate, water, land and biodiversity, as well as economic quantification based on producer prices ..."--Introduction.

Focusing on the crucial sustainability challenge of reducing food loss at the level of consumer society, this volume provides an in-depth, research-based overview of this multifaceted problem. It considers the myriad environmental, economic, social, and ethical factors associated with the enormous amount of food waste, which also end up wasting water, air, electricity, and fuel, which are necessary for food processing. This book uniquely examines the social and cultural views of food waste management, shedding new light on the topic by emphasizing the consumer/household perspective throughout. Drawing on a wide variety of disciplines, the book presents philosophical reflections, practical examples and case studies, and potential solutions to the problem of increasing food waste.