Profiting From Food Waste

International scientists meeting at the 2009 Total Food Conference are discussing ways the food industry could make money from food waste.

“Consumers produce a considerable amount of food waste at home but more is produced rthrough the food production chain each year,” said Professor Keith Waldron from the Institute of Food Research.

As reported by AlphaGalileo, scientists proposed a way where high value products can be created from food-grade material. Examples included making high-fiber cookies from guava waste; antioxidants from apple pulp following juice extraction; stabilizers from spent grain; and colorants and biodegradable packaging.

“Extracting high-value components from this free resource makes economic and environmental sense, particularly if it is part of a strategy to use all waste from the food supply chain, for example in the production of biofuels” said Professor Bart Gremmen from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Sources:

• AlphaGalileo: Make money from food waste, say scientists