Food wastage: India fares better than global annual average of 79 per kg per capita

New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) As per United Nations Environment Programme Food Waste Index Report 2024, the estimated food wastage in India in 2022 is 55 kg/capita/year which is significantly lower than the global average of 79 kg/capita/year, shows official data.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) takes measures to prevent food wastage, including “Save Food Share Food” Initiative to promote surplus food donation by industry, including food caterers.

According to Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution B.L. Verma, to combat the problem of minimal outreach of surplus food distribution agencies, a pan India network of surplus food distribution agencies has been created as Indian Food Sharing Alliance (IFSA).

“A total of 82 agencies have been registered under IFSA reaching out to 90-plus cities. There is a dedicated website for share food which provides a city-wise list of IFSA members and information on prevention of food waste,” said Verma.

He said states/UTs are advised from time to time by the Central government to include a chapter on prevention of food wastage in the school syllabi to inculcate awareness among young students and sensitise them on prevention of food waste.

The FSSAI releases the State Food Safety Index (SFSI) annually that reflects the overall performance of the states/ UTs on various parameters of food safety.

The index evaluates the performance of state on parameters including compliance, consumer empowerment, training and capacity building, food testing infrastructure and surveillance.

Kerala with a score of 63, Punjab (57.5), Tamil Nadu (56.5), Madhya Pradesh (56), Uttar Pradesh (52.5) and Gujarat (48.5) are some of the high ranked states in the Index Rankings.

Among Union Territories, J&K and Delhi are among the top performers with scores of 59.5 and 49.5.

The Ministry, however, maintains that the scores allocated to States/UTs in various SFSIs may not be compared to analyse and capture the issues and progress made by states/UTs in various parameters of food safety as parameters are not constant and are updated from time to time.

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