The average Japanese person used 1,167 grams of food a day, of which 47.3 grams ended up food waste as leftovers and waste, according to the Statistical Survey on Food Waste for fiscal 2005, released by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on August 4, 2006. The ratio of food waste amounted to 4.1 percent of the total used, slightly less than the 4.2 percent in fiscal 2004.

The survey was conducted on meals at 1,000 households across Japan. Roughly half (2.0 percent) of the food waste was from excessive peeling of vegetables, 1.1 percent was from being leftover after a meal, 0.9 percent was from food that had passed the expiry date. Ratios for food waste from excessive peeling and date expiry remained the same as in fiscal 2004, but the ratio of leftovers of uneaten food dropped 0.2 points.

By amount of food waste was as follows, vegetables were largest at 20.5 grams, followed by processed food at 8.0 grams, and from fruit at 7.4 grams. By ratio of food waste, fruit were largest at 9.8 percent, followed by vegetables at 8.9 percent, and seafood at 7.3 percent.

http://www.maff.go.jp/eindex.html

Posted: 2006/11/22 11:46:14 AM
Japanese version

TAG Food/Water , Government , NGO/Citizen