Current figures show how half of food in the US and a third of food in the UK goes to waste. In the US, this amounts to total losses of up to $100bn per year, $20bn of that occurring in the farm and processing sectors, and $30-40bn occurring in the retail sector. Household losses account for a further $40bn, reveals research conducted by Dr Jones.
"Huge amounts of food are being wasted throughout the industry. A proportion of this waste is inevitable, but a large part of it can be eliminated and lead to increased profit, not only through cutting losses but also through increasing efficiency," said Dr Jones, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona's Bureau for Applied Research in Anthropology.
Dr Jones said discussions with some industry leaders are already underway to examine possible programmes that can be initiated to reduce losses and increase profitability.
He has proposed a Food Loss Centre, a concept, he claims, supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which would act as an information body for the industry, providing meetings and educational publications on how to reduce loss.
"The Centre would coordinate educational programmes given by representatives of the most efficient sectors of the industry- such as supermarkets- to the least efficient groups- such as fast food restaurants," Dr Jones told BakeryAndSnacks.com.
"This would have long-term benefits for the entire industry. For example, if supermarkets help fast food restaurants-which use more than half of all meat in the US- to reduce beef losses, the beef industry will become more efficient, and supermarkets will get more efficient beef," he added.
Dr Jones has spent the last ten years measuring food loss, including the last eight under a grant from the USDA. Using contemporary archaeology and ethnography, he has followed the path food travels, while also studying the culture and psychology behind the process, examining practices at all levels of the food industry, from farms and food production through to retail, consumption and waste disposal.
According to figures revealed in the study, a colossal $7bn is lost during food processing, and a further $7bn is lost through walk-bys- leaving crops in the field to be ploughed over.
"Walk-bys for reduced quality crop are inevitable. A 2 per cent walk-by is allowable, but we get a 10-12 per cent rate, depending on the crop. Half the time this has to do with market issues: if profit is not enough, the crop will be turned under. This is a model of business, but it simply isn't acceptable in terms of food wastage," said Dr Jones.
A redistribution of edible food that is currently wasted could contribute towards relieving hunger in developing countries. Furthermore, a more efficient system would reduce adverse environmental impacts resulting from landfill use, soil depletion and use of fertilizers.
Consumers and retailers are also of course responsible for minimising food waste, but it is manufacturers, who are being squeezed by high raw material prices and low retail costs, that stand to gain most by establishing greater operational efficiencies to cut out unnecessary waste.