GEORGE TOWN: The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has urged the government to crack the whip on food waste.
Its president Mohideen Abdul Kader also called on the authorities to come out with urgent solutions to address the enormous food wastage problem that has been dogging the country for many years.
He said wasting food had direct impact not only on people locally, but also globally where hundreds of millions of people had no food to eat every day.
The World Food Programme (WFP) recently warned that as many as 828 million people go to bed hungry every night while the number of those facing acute food insecurity has soared — from 135 million to 345 million — since 2019.
"In Malaysia, it is reported that about 10 per cent of the garbage we throw out every day is food that can still be eaten.
"Malaysians dumped 4,046 tonnes of edible food daily. This amount can feed three million people with three meals a day. And it's enough to fill one-and-the-half Olympic-sized swimming pools," he said today.
Mohideen said according to landfill operator SWCorp Malaysia, people in Malaysia generated 17,007 tonnes of food waste per day in 2021.
Most (76 per cent) were inedible like bones and fruit skin, while the remaining 24 per cent could still be consumed like leftover meat and vegetables.
"It is unjustifiable for so much food to be thrown away at a time of widespread world famine and growing food insecurity.
"And it's an especially shameful practice at a time when the nation is gripped by high costs of living, with escalating food prices forcing some university students to eat just one meal a day, fast regularly and survive on a loaf of bread for two days.
"In spite of such difficult times, the public at large is throwing away edible food, which is totally unacceptable," he added.
Mohideen said food wastage also entailed high costs of disposal.
The cost to dispose of food wasted by each Malaysian household comes to about RM210 a month, or RM2,600 a year.
"The authorities should conduct an ongoing nationwide zero-food-waste educational campaign to educate the public and food retailers on food wastage and its implications. This should also be implemented in schools to instil awareness in the young.
"The authorities should also introduce regulations to penalise restaurants and eateries that waste food.
"Alternatively, the authorities should also establish portion control guidelines for foods served in official public events and private functions," he said.
Mohideen said the public should not buy more food than needed, let fruits and vegetables spoil at home or take larger portions than they can eat.
He added that the people should also put leftovers and food waste to good use and freeze leftovers as an ingredient in another meal.
"Public should also not throw away oddly-shaped or bruised fruits and vegetables, but find ways to use them.
"Similarly, they can also donate or share foods that are in excess, store food wisely to prevent spoilage and take smaller portions at home and share large dishes when eating out."