Close to one-fifth of imported and locally farmed fresh produce here is lost along the food supply chain every year, a study conducted by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and Deloitte Singapore has found.
The study found that the food that is wasted translates to 393,000 tonnes of vegetables, fruits, fish, seafood and eggs that are spoilt and damaged during the post-harvest stage, storage, packaging and transportation.
These include food wastage, when food close to their best-before dates and vegetables that look unappealing are left on the shelves and thrown away.
From the study, the main causes of food loss are poor disease and pest management in farms and warehouses, over-importing, a broken cold chain management, and inadequate infrastructure to prevent food spoilage.
SEC executive director Jen Teo said there is a tendency for buyers to over-import food because of competitive pricing and a desire to meet consumers’ demands for high-quality food.
The study emphasised that an unbroken cold chain from farm to table is needed to maintain the quality of fresh produce and avoid pest infestation.
The Singapore Food Agency and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint response that NEA will be implementing mandatory requirements for new developments which are expected to generate large amounts of food waste.
These developers must set aside space for on-site food waste treatment in their design plans submitted from 2021, and implement the facility from 2024.
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Source: The Straits Times, 7 August 2019