What causes food waste?

Food waste is caused by multiple factors and incorrect behaviors which can be modified by acquiring new, more conscious and sustainable ways of living. Before understanding how to reduce this problem in your daily life, it is a good idea to analyze the causes behind food waste:

• Excessive portions: both at home and in restaurants, it is often impossible to finish the food prepared or ordered. As a consequence, there is not only a waste of food, but also of money. The concept of “excessive portions” also includes all that food that is purposely prepared in excess by the hospitality sector to have a greater chance of meeting the tastes of a very varied clientele.
• Collection or production waste: the fruit and vegetable sector is often unable to sell everything that comes from the fields due to multiple reasons. Sometimes, in fact, foods don’t reflect the aesthetic standards of retailers or government specifications; in other cases there have been changes in consumer demand or inaccuracies in the requests previously made by traders.
• Deterioration or expiration: food is often not consumed because it’s spoiled or expired. The first case can also occur during delivery to retailers if the regulations for the transport of perishable goods are not respected. In the second case, there is the error of interpreting the expiry date in an excessively restrictive sense rather than as an indication.

How can food waste be stopped?

Certainly, food waste cannot be eliminated in one day, but new consumption habits that are more attentive to this problem can be adopted. Help to stop food waste can come from aluminium foil containers. They can be closed with special lids and placed in the refrigerator or freezer to preserve uneaten food. Furthermore, aluminium trays with compartments are available to portion food and already have an idea of ​​the quantity of food you will eat. In addition, given that the containers can be closed with lids or sealed with film; they can be used to transport food in a safe and controlled way preventing food from spoiling during transportation.

Contital produces different types of aluminium food containers, which can be used to reduce food waste and adopt more conscious consumption habits. To get an idea of ​​our products, take a look at the Online Catalog!