Definition

Food waste may occur at any stage of the food supply chain – production, processing, retail and consumption. Precise definitions are contentious, often defined on a situational basis (as is the case more generally with definitions of waste).:x-xi Professional bodies, including international organizations, state governments and secretariats may use their own definitions.:1

Among other things, in what food waste consists of, how it is produced, and where or what it is discarded from or generated by. Definitions also vary because certain groups do not consider (or have traditionally not considered) food waste to be a waste material, due to its applications.:2 Some definitions of what food waste consists of are based on other waste definitions (e.g. agricultural waste) and which materials do not meet their definitions.

United Nationsedit

Under the UN's Save Food initiative, the FAO, UNEP, and stakeholders have agreed on the following definition of food loss and waste:

• Food loss is the decrease in quantity or quality of food. Food loss in the production and distribution segments of the food supply chain is mainly a function of the food production and supply system or its institutional and legal framework.
• Food waste (which is a component of food loss) is any removal of food from the food supply chain which is or was at some point fit for human consumption, or which has spoiled or expired, mainly caused by economic behaviour, poor stock management or neglect.

Important components of this definition include:

• Food waste is a part of food loss, but the distinction between the two is not clearly defined
• Food redirected to non-food chains (including animal feed, compost or recovery to bioenergy) is counted as food loss or waste.
• Plants and animals produced for food contain 'non-food parts' which are not included in 'food loss and waste' (these inedible parts are sometimes referred to as 'unavoidable food waste)

European Unionedit

In the European Union, food waste was defined as "any food substance, raw or cooked, which is discarded, or intended or required to be discarded" since 1975 until 2000 when the old directive was repealed by Directive 2008/98/EC, which has no specific definition of food waste. The directive, 75/442/EEC, containing this definition was amended in 1991 (91/156) with the addition of "categories of waste" (Annex I) and the omission of any reference to national law.

United Statesedit

The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines food waste for the United States such as "uneaten food and food preparation wastes from residences and commercial establishments such as grocery stores, restaurants, produce stands, institutional cafeterias and kitchens, and industrial sources like employee lunchrooms". The states remain free to define food waste differently for their purposes, though many choose not to. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans throw away up to 40% of food that is safe to eat.

Other definitionsedit

The definitions by the UN and EU have come under criticism for including food that goes to non-food productive use in their definitions of food waste. According to the authors of one study, this is flawed for two reasons: "First, if recovered food is used as an input, such as animal feed, fertilizer, or biomass to produce output, then by definition it is not wasted. However, there might be economic losses if the cost of recovered food is higher than the average cost of inputs in the alternative, nonfood use. Second, the definition creates practical problems for measuring food waste because the measurement requires tracking food loss in every stage of the supply chain and its proportion that flows to nonfood uses." The authors of the study argue that only food that ends up in landfills should be counted as food waste.