LOC17:18
14:18 GMT
BRUSSELS, Jan 19 (KUNA) -- Up to 50% of edible and healthy food gets wasted
in EU households, supermarkets, restaurants and along the food supply chain
each year, while 79 million EU citizens live beneath the poverty line and 16
million depend on food aid from charitable institutions, according to an
European Parliament report.
The EP called in a resolution Thursday for urgent measures to halve food
waste by 2025 and to improve access to food for needy EU citizens.
In the 27 EU member states 89 million tonnes of food per year i.e. 179 kg
per capita are wasted and if no action is taken food wastage by 2020 is
expected to rise to 126 million tonnes.
"We can no longer afford to stand idly by while perfectly edible food is
being wasted. This is an ethical but also an economic and social problem, with
huge implications for the environment," said EP rapporteur Salvatore Caronna
presenting the report.
The EP welcomed existing initiatives in some EU Member States to recover
unsold food and offer it to needy citizens and called on retailers to take
part in such programmes. (end)
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