When we think of food waste, our immediate thoughts race towards restaurants and food businesses. Producing huge amounts of food everyday - the general finger would probably point towards these institutions being the main culprits in the problem of food waste. Surely the masses pouring into these gastronomical destinations don't finish off everything?
However, is that really the case? What if restaurants actually finish off their daily produce by the end of the day? What if they actually don't contribute to food waste as much as we think they do?
Here is the information collected-
- About 80% of the total food produced daily is consumed by the end of the day in most established restaurants.
- Good leftovers are usually distributed among staff members and to Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs).
- Food controllers are being employed to reduce food waste.
- Extra food is donated by some to food banks, charities and places of worship.
- Non-perishables are refrigerated and reused the next day.
So, does that mean no food is wasted at all in restaurants? No. The reasons for whatever food waste occurs in the food business are these-
- Portions have increased in size. Customers accustomed to smaller portions usually order too much food and leave some on their plates. This food, obviously, cannot be reused or eaten by another.
- Sometimes legal affairs come into the way of things. Most reputed businesses would think twice before giving away food, because of fear of being sued in case anybody falls ill due to consumption of that food. The scenario is a quite unlikely one, but fear of the same is there, and since much is there to be lost, restaurants usually refrain from distributing food.
- In some situations, festive seasons for example, restaurants fail to gauge the footfall and end up ordering more raw food than needed or producing more food than can be sold in a day.
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| Food Waste In Restaurants |
