ABSTRACT
This chapter considers various regulatory options to minimize the generation of Food loss and waste (FLW). For this, it is necessary to understand the causes of FLW at each level of the supply chain and to acknowledge that the drivers of FLW will differ between developed and developing countries. A threshold issue in the consideration of legislative options for the minimization of FLW is the definition of the terms central to its regulation. These include: “food,” “food loss,” “food waste,” and “food supply chain.” A 2011 study by The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK), completed for the Organization of the United Nations (FAO), identified the causes of food losses and waste in low-income countries as “mainly connected to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques, storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions, infrastructure, and packaging and marketing systems.”.
