Around 5% of households’ monthly expenditure on food ends up in rubbish bin (INC)

Tunis: Around 5% of Tunisian households’ monthly expenditure on food ends up in the rubbish bin, Darine Doggui, director of the National Consumer Institute (INC), said on Monday, noting that the total value of food thrown away nationally amounts to TND 570 million a year.

Speaking at the National Agricultural Conference on “Food Security in the Face of Climate Change”, Doggui said that each Tunisian family wastes about 42kg of bread a year. This amounts to a total of about 900,000 loaves per day for all families, or 16% of the bread purchased, which is equivalent to about 300,000 TND per day and 100 million TND per year.

Similarly, families waste 6.5% of the vegetables and 10% of the cereals and pasta they buy,” she added.

She went on to say that during the month of Ramadan, Tunisian families throw away 2/3 of their cooked food (around 66.6%), almost half of the bread they buy (46%) and around 1/3 of their cereals (30%).

This result is due to poor food preservation, unplanned and irrational purchases and
the preparation of more food than the family really needs, according to her.

The director of the INC stressed the need to make the public aware of the need to rationalise their consumption. A national caravan for consumer education has been organised in educational establishments for the period 2016-2024 to raise children’s awareness of good consumer practices and environmental issues, she pointed out.

She also called for the adoption of legislation to encourage the reduction of food waste.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse