Senator wants govt to address excessive food waste issue seriously

KUALA LUMPUR: A senator today called on the government to find ways to seriously address the issue of excessive food waste in the country, which has allegedly reached an alarming level.
According to Senator Datuk Lihan Jok, statistics showed that about 3,000 tonnes of food were left untouched and were thrown away every day.
"Such a large amount of food is enough to feed two million hungry people with three meals each day. So in my opinion, this problem needs to be addressed seriously ... it has reached a critical stage," he said when debating the Supply Bill 2018 at the Dewan Negara sitting today.
Lihan said according to a study done by Electrolux Malaysia, about 77% of Malaysians had a habit to waste food, especially at home.
"People like to waste food, especially those stored in the refrigerator even though the food are still edible," he said, adding that continuous food wastage would also have an unhealthy impact on the environment.
The sitting continues tomorrow. — Bernama