Food Insecurity and the Global Environment: The Role of Food Loss and Waste

Abstract

This aim of this review is to discuss the concepts of food security and insecurity, food loss, waste and spoilage. The paper also discusses how combating food spoilage could serve as panacea to promoting food security. The assurance of safe and sufficient food supply is a bedrock of human health and food security. Globally, increasing number of people are reported to be experiencing food insecurity, with food loss and waste occurring at several points in the food supply chain; that is from production to consumption. These loses exert detrimental effect on the economy, environment and public health. Food security is anchored on four main pillars of availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. Despite numerous significant developments in the fields of food science and food safety, food spoilage and food-borne infections remain subjects of global health concerns. Although food spoilage, as an intricate process could be caused by microbial, chemical or physical factors, microorganisms are the most common causes due to their ubiquitous nature, with microbial spoilage estimated to account for one-fourth of global food loss and waste. Microbial spoilage of food premised on their growth and release of metabolic byproducts. The factors that determine microbial food spoilage are categorized into intrinsic, extrinsic, implicit and processing factors. Since foods can lose their nutritional content, colour, texture, and edibility due to spoilage, they must be protected in order to keep their quality for an extended amount of time. Over the years, a number of strategies have been explored to sustain the safety and quality of food, which can be achieve through utilization of appropriate food preservation methods. The main principles of food preservation encompass enhancing food’s shelf life while maintaining qualities and safety concerns. Therefore, reduction of both harvest and postharvest food loss and waste, which encompasses the whole food supply chain, from production, to consumption is key to maintaining sustainability.