Almost half of Hungarian families regularly throw away food

Budapest (MTI) – Nearly half of Hungarian families waste food on a regular basis, a survey carried out by Tetra Pak Hungaria and market research company NRC Piackutato shows.

Fully 42 percent of respondents said they throw away food regularly. Eighty-two percent of those who admitted to wasting food said they do so if the food goes bad, 10 percent said they throw away food that passes its expiration date while 8 percent said they throw away leftovers or food they no longer want, the survey published on Sunday showed.

Four percent of respondents said they throw away food on a daily basis, 27 percent said they do so weekly while 11 percent said their food ends up in the garbage once a month.

Respondents said they tend to throw away baked goods, cooked food, vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy products or juice.

No less than 96 percent of respondents said they consciously try their best not to waste food, 67 percent said they make sure to buy only what they need while 37 percent said they buy non-perishables. Fully 30 percent said they prefer to recycle food that goes bad.

The Hungarian Food Bank Association said households in Hungary waste around 400,000 tonnes of food a year.

The survey was carried out with a nationwide representative sample of 1,200 adults in July.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters