Britain food waste at 12.5 bln pounds a year: report

(Xinhua) -- Food waste is a serious issue in Britain with a staggering 4.2 million tonnes of household food thrown away each year, costing the country 12.5 billion pounds (20 billion U.S. dollars), said a new study issued on Thursday.

The Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), a government-support institution engaging in minimizing resource use and diverting priority materials from landfill, said in the report that the average British household throws away the equivalent of six meals every week, almost 60 pounds a month to the average family.

The report added the country threw away 4.2 million tonnes of household food each year, which could have been eaten.

"Almost half of this food goes straight from our fridges or cupboards to the bin and doesn't even make it onto our dinner plates," it said.

The top three foods that Britons are throwing away uneaten include every day essentials: bread, potatoes and milk. British households throw away the equivalent of 24 million slices of bread, 5.8 million potatoes and 5.9 million glasses of milk are wasted daily.

Chicken also made the top ten with the equivalent of 86 million chickens thrown away each year, despite being the nation's favorite meat. Sweet treats like cake make the list too.

The main reasons for the food waste include buying more than we need, lack of clarity around storage and labeling and over-estimating portions, according to WRAP.

However, due to the recent years efforts in reducing food waste, since 2007 Britain has cut avoidable household food waste by an impressive 21 percent, which saved cash strapped consumers almost 13 billion pounds.