A new report into food security has been published by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee recommending the appointment of a food security coordinator to tackle food waste.
The role of a "Food Security Co-ordinator" would be to bring together key agencies to develop effective systems to distribute food that would otherwise go to waste. According to the report, 9 million tonnes of the UK's annual 15 million tonnes of food waste could have been eaten at some point.
The publication follows the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) report which revealed the combined food waste figures of the UK's top seven supermarkets, stating that the retail sector wastes 200,000 tonnes of food per year, equating to 1.3 percent of the 15m tonnes of food wasted each year in total.
Household waste equates to half the total, at 7m tonnes, manufacturing 3.9m tonnes and farming 3m tonnes. Hospitality and food services equate to 900,000 tonnes of food wasted, according to the BRC.
The Government has pledged to consider the recommendations in the report and provide a full response in due course.
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