Given the direct impact on wellbeing, learning capacity and productivity, the loss and waste of micronutrients is of particular concern.
Health News: With one-in-five deaths associated with poor-quality diets, the UN food agency has said that regularly eating poor-quality food has become a greater public health threat than malaria, tuberculosis or measles.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) co-authored the report titled 'Preventing nutrient loss and waste across the food system: Policy actions for high-quality diets'.
It urged policymakers to reduce food loss and waste to improve access to nutritious and healthy food as it concluded that regularly eating poor-quality food has become a greater public health threat than malaria, tuberculosis or measles.
Approximately one-third of food produced for human consumption never reaches the consumer's plate or bowl. Nutrient-rich foods, such as fruits, vegetables, seafood and meats are highly perishable, rendering them susceptible to losses throughout increasingly complex food production systems.
Reducing food loss and waste, particularly high-nutrient foods, not only has nutritional benefits, but also contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and should be a new priority for improving nutrition.
