Asia blamed as third of global food is wasted

One third of the food produced worldwide is wasted, costing the global economy around $750bn (€570bn) a year, said a report by the UN food agency.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said some 1.3bn tonnes of food are wasted every year, with the Asia region including China seen as the worst culprit.

The food agency’s director general, Jose Graziano da Silva, told a press conference, “one third of the food produced today is lost or wasted . . . equivalent to the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) of Switzerland”.