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Each year, around 15 kilos of food is thrown away per person in the household. In addition to this, 18 kilos of food and drink are also poured down the sink per person per year.
1 / 2Photo: Johan Hallnäs/TT
Bread, potatoes and sausage. It is some of the food we usually throw in the garbage in order to eat, shows the Swedish Food Agency’s deep dive into household food waste.
– Fruit and vegetables are the category that is thrown away the most, followed by bread and bread products, says Karin Fritz, who is a food waste expert.
The analysis of the household waste from 15 Swedish municipalities has also provided detailed information on which fruit and vegetables are thrown away the most.
– It’s things like carrots, onions and apples. Within bread, there are loaves and rolls. It’s nothing strange, but we didn’t know that before.
Food waste is reduced
A positive discovery was that leftovers from cooked food, which used to be the third largest category, are not as common.
– It could mean that we have become better at taking care of our leftovers and know that cooked food lasts longer in the fridge, Karin Fritz believes.
Something that surprised was how much ends up in the residual waste – and still in packaging.
– There is potential to reduce food waste more actively and use your senses and look, smell, taste.
Dairy products end up in the garbage less often, to the extent that they do, it’s usually cheese. Other dairy products are usually poured down the sink and are therefore not included in the survey.
Simple tricks
With the newfound knowledge of what ends up in the garbage, the Swedish Food Agency is launching a campaign with simple tricks on how to take care of, for example, a sad carrot.
– You can put the carrot that is starting to look tired and dull in a glass of cold water. Then it will recover and be as before, advises Karin Fritz.
Through consumer surveys, the Swedish Food Agency knows that knowledge is generally low about how best to store food and how long it lasts. But things are turning around.
Today, 33 kilos of food are thrown away per person per year, but this is a figure that has decreased in recent years.
– It is clear that there is a greater awareness that one needs to take care of the food and that it is not good for the environment or the wallet.
FACT The food that ends up in the garbage
Fruit and vegetables make up 36 percent of food waste, followed by bread and bread products with 19 percent. The other category, which is things like chips, sweets, ketchup and cereals, ends up at 15 percent. Leftovers from cooked food as well as meat and meat toppings each account for 12 percent.
At a detailed level, you can see that of fruit and vegetables, it is primarily potatoes, apples, carrots and onions that are thrown away, and among bread and bread products, it is food bread such as loaves and rolls. The meat that is thrown away is mostly sausages and cold cuts.
The analysis also shows that much of the food that ends up in the residual waste is thrown away in packaging, sometimes even unopened.
Source: Swedish Food Agency
Read moreFACTSFood waste
Food waste is food that was produced with the aim of becoming food, but which for various reasons is not eaten or drunk.
A third of all food produced in the world is not eaten.
Every year, households in Sweden throw away around 15 kilos of edible food per person. The most common food waste is fruit, vegetables, bread and leftovers.
In addition, 18 kilograms of food and drink are poured down the sink, per person and year. The products that are most often poured out are coffee, tea and dairy products.
For a family of two adults and two children, this is about 130 kilos per year.
If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, after China and the United States
Source: Swedish Food Agency
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