Estimating Nutrient Losses from Wasted Food in the United States Food Supply

OBJECTIVE Although previous research efforts have estimated the caloric value of wasted food in the United States (US), little is known about the amounts other nutrients contained in wasted food. Given that 31–40% of the food produced in the US is wasted, this food may contain substantial amounts of macronutrients, micronutrients, and fiber. This is especially important in light of the fact that some nutrients are underconsumed in the US, including dietary fiber, calcium, potassium, and vitamin D. The objective of this research was to estimate the nutrient composition of food wasted at the retail and consumer levels in the US, and to express the magnitude of these losses in relation to the current and recommended dietary intakes for adults in the US. METHODS The US Department of Agriculture Loss‐Adjusted Food Availability Data Series was used to identify the amount of per capita annual food loss from the retail and consumer levels for 213 commodities in 2012. Each commodity was matched to a representative food or group of foods in the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference‐Release 28 (SR‐28), and then SR‐28 was used to determine the nutrient composition for a standard amount (100g) of each commodity. The amount of each nutrient present in the amount of wasted food at the retail and consumer levels was summed by nutrient to estimate overall losses per capita per day in the US food supply. The magnitude of losses was expressed in comparison to recommended dietary intakes, gaps between recommended and mean current intakes, and the amount of food that could be cost‐effectively recovered. REUSLTS For 213 commodities representing the US food supply in 2012, waste at the retail and consumer levels represented an average per capita per day loss of 1217 calories, 147 g carbohydrates, 33 g protein, 57 g total fat, 5.9 g dietary fiber, 186 mg calcium, 88 mg potassium, and 1.7 mcg vitamin D. To use dietary fiber as an example, the amount of dietary fiber wasted per the total 2012 US population is equivalent to the gap between mean current intakes and recommended intakes for 206 million adult women or 104 million adult men. The contribution of various food groups to the loss of each nutrient is explored; for example, 39% of the loss of dietary fiber was due to waste of grains, 34% to waste of vegetables, and 22% to waste of fruits. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first estimate of the loss of a comprehensive array of nutrients for a set of commodities that represent the US food supply. The findings demonstrate that a substantial amount of nutrients is embedded within food wasted at the retail and consumer levels of the US food supply, including nutrients that are currently underconsumed. These findings should not imply that all nutrient content from wasted food could realistically be recovered for human consumption, but they highlight the importance of promoting efforts to improve food recovery and prevent food waste; these efforts have the potential to prevent waste of important nutrients, while also saving money and natural resources. Support or Funding Information This research was funded by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) with a gift from the GRACE Communications Foundation ( www.gracelinks.org ). At the time of writing, two authors (MLS and SMS) were also supported by the CLF‐Lerner Fellowship. The Grace Communications Foundation had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.