Exploring the Global Scientific Literature on Food Waste and Loss

TLDR

The expanding global population and modern dietary habits drive unsustainable food systems, causing one‑third of produced food to be wasted or lost throughout the supply chain. This study investigates the scientific literature on food waste and loss. The authors combined social network analysis with bibliometric methods to map relationships among keywords, authors, and countries concerning food waste, environmental impact, and food security. The resulting network maps reveal exponential growth in food‑waste research since 2010, a shift from downstream waste focus to upstream sustainability, food security, consumer behavior, and circular‑economy approaches, underscoring the need for interdisciplinary methods.

Abstract

The growing global population and modern dietary patterns are the main drivers of current unsustainable food systems, with one of the most serious consequences being the growing issue of food waste and loss (FWL). FWL is a global problem since one-third of the global food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost yearly. FWL occurs throughout the food supply chain. In this study, the scientific literature on FWL was explored. Social network analysis and bibliometrics were integrated to explore the issue of food waste in relation to environmental impact and food security. The generated network maps displayed the relationships among keywords, authors, and countries dealing with the issue of food waste, highlighting the exponential growth of the studies focusing on food waste since 2010. The results allowed for the understanding of the evolution of food waste scientific research, identifying the most important topics and research paths. In addition, the results also showed a clear research shift from an older approach to food waste, based on the downstream notion of waste, to a more modern approach, based on sustainability, food security, consumer behavior, and the circular economy, addressing the problem of food waste by preventing it with upstream actions and policies. Considering the remarkable ethical, environmental, social, and economic implications of FWL, the outcomes of this study display the need for developing interdisciplinary approaches and methodologies capable of providing a comprehensive understanding of the FWL issue.