Prague, Aug 9 (CTK) – More than a half of Czechs sometimes consume food past the minimum expiration date and 48 percent use food that goes bad quickly, such as dairy products and meat, after the usability date has ended, according to a CVVM poll the results of which CTK received yesterday.
According to the poll, 86 percent of people consider food wasting a problem, more than 40 percent an all-society problem.
An estimated 25 kilograms of food per capita are wasted in the country with a population of over 10 million annually.
People say they want to limit food wasting, most often for financial reasons.
Every household spends an average 22,400 crowns on food per capita annually.
More than a half of the polled said they do not throw away more than 10 percent of the food they buy. Less than one quarter said their household does not throw away food.
According to overall statistics, food constitutes about 30 percent of household waste.
People throw away food most frequently because it went bad or it is past the expiration date.
“Less than one third of the polled said they sometimes throw food away because they do not feel like eating it any more or because they put a too big portion on their plate,” the poll showed.
It is estimated that about 6.4 percent of the overall food production is thrown away, which is relatively little compared to other EU countries, still it amounts to more than 254,000 tonnes of food annually.
“It is apparent that the Czechs realise the consequences of food wasting particularly on the personal and everyday level,” CVVM said.
More than a half of people cited environmental reasons and a half of the polled mentioned the ethical and social sides of the issue.
($1=22.135 crowns)
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