{"id":107494,"date":"2023-07-05T08:58:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T12:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=107494"},"modified":"2023-07-05T15:58:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T19:58:51","slug":"food-waste-supermarkets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/food-waste-supermarkets\/","title":{"rendered":"How Food Waste in Supermarkets Is Getting Out of Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is supermarket food waste getting out of hand? What can be done to prevent it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US grocery stores throw out 123 million pounds of food each day. Advocates hope the newly reintroduced Food Date Labeling<\/a> Act will help remedy part of the food waste problem. But time will tell whether the bipartisan-backed bill can withstand objections from the food industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below we’ll take a look at the history of supermarket food waste and possible remedies for the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Supermarkets Produce So Much Waste<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each year, US grocery stores and restaurants throw out 40 million tons of food<\/a>\u2014accounting for 30-40% of the food supply in a nation where 34 million people don\u2019t have enough to eat. Grocery stores comprise <\/strong>30% of all retail sector food waste<\/strong><\/a>, sending 1.55 million tons<\/a> of it straight to landfills in 2021, where it released planet-warming gases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Food waste in supermarkets amounts to about 123 million pounds of food every day<\/a>\u2014a practice that costs them $18 billion a year<\/a>, on top of the lost opportunity to feed millions and the toll on the environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though some retailers are working to curb food waste<\/a>, barriers exist to doing so. First, many stores are reluctant to donate food, afraid they\u2019ll be held liable<\/a> if people get sick from it. Experts say that, in fact, legal liability protections<\/a> and tax benefits exist for businesses that donate food, but many aren’t aware of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second contributor to grocery store food waste is confusion around date labels on food\u2014an issue with a long, complicated history<\/a> that led the federal government to require and regulate the date on just one food item: infant formula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional factors<\/a> that contribute to grocery store food waste include:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n