Save Food hunger-fighting initiative

"I'm very pleased that the Save Food exhibition continues to stimulate interest even after interpack 2011. This underlines the importance of the subject for the companies of the food value chain and particularly for the packaging sector and related processing industries. With the Save Food initiative, we have succeeded in sensitizing these stakeholders to a subject of global concern," says Bernd Jablonowski, project director of interpack and responsible for Save Food at Messe Düsseldorf.

According to FAO studies on global food loss, in the U.S. a good deal of food is wasted, particularly in the home. North American consumers are responsible for about a quarter of the total loss of cereal products, while loss in the home in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, accounts for only 1 percent. According to the findings of the FAO, this pattern is typical of developed countries where food loss tends to occur more at the end of the value chain than in production.

In addition to consumers planning their purchases better and a more sensible attitude to sell-by dates, intelligent packaging concepts could also help to prevent consumer-related food loss and thus conserve resources. Advanced packaging technology and the associated production processes not only reduce loss in production, but also extend the shelf life of end products. High-tech packaging materials with sensory functions, on the other hand, are capable of supplying information on the freshness of the packaged food.

As a corporate campaign, Save Food has set itself the goal of networking stakeholders in industry, government and research. It aims to foster constructive dialogue in the search for ways of reducing food loss along the food value chain. About 50 companies and associations have joined this initiative so far. In cooperation with the FAO as its partner, the focus will be on enhancing the still unreliable knowledge of the scale of global food loss and creating a firm foundation for concrete action.

Before being staged at Process Expo in Chicago from Nov. 3-6, 2013, the Save Food exhibit can be seen at the packaging trade fair Upakovka/UPAK Italia in Moscow from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, 2013. Additional showings at industry related trade fairs are planned.

Source: Messe Düsseldorf North America

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