In a world where up to 800 million people are chronically undernourished roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted across the entire supply chain every year. To minimize food waste, it’s important to understand not only why it occurs, but also where in the supply chain it occurs.
The US’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that roughly 48 million Americans get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases—every year. Foodborne illness breakouts are obviously an important public health issue, but they also represent one of the greatest financial risks that food and beverage companies face.