Iran’s Annual Food Waste at 25m Tons

Each year, Iran produces some 130 million tons of food products, 25 million tons of which go to waste, the chairman of the board of directors at Iran’s Food Producers Cooperatives said.

Mehdi Karimi Tafreshi added that the country can prevent food waste by developing processing and downstream industries, IRNA reported.

Some 30% of agricultural products in Iran are said to go to waste every year, costing the country’s economy over $5 billion per annum.

According to Food and Agricultural Organization, 1.3 billion tons of food, mainly fruit, vegetables, fish and grains, are wasted globally every year and Iran is responsible for 2.7%, equal to about 35 million tons of the total sum. Iranians waste mostly bread, fruit, vegetables and rice.