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Saudi tops world in food waste – Ministry report

Saudi tops world in food waste – Ministry report
Saudi tops world in food waste – Ministry report

Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia ranked first globally in terms of food waste, a report by the country’s Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA) showed.

The volume of waste food by the kingdom’s citizens is estimated at about 250 kilograms on a yearly basis, compared to a global average of 115 kilograms.

About 30% of the produced food in Saudi Arabia, amounting to SAR 49 billion ($13.07 billion) is wasted, MEWA said.

The Saudi Shoura Council is scheduled to discuss a draft law to reduce the volume of wasted food in the kingdom this month.
“Some of the major causes of food waste are low awareness in society, dinner hosts’ tendency to show off to guests and often some restaurants and hotels that have poor organization related to curbing food waste,” the CEO of Saudi Food Bank (Etaam) Abdullah Al Darbah stated.

On a side note, since its launch, Etaam was able to save and serve around 6 million meals from wasted food. It saves around 9,000 meals from leftovers per day each year in the kingdom.

Last year, about 49 tonnes of leftover food that could make up around 144,000 meals were saved from the restaurants at the kingdom’s Red Sea Mall.

Despite this massive food wasting, Saudis suffer from many health problems, with around 59.4% suffering from overweight and obesity problems, while 23.9% are diabetic, and 40.5% have hypertension.