Food waste has become a disaster of global proportion that the world can no longer turn a blind eye to. This paper aims to reduce food waste at the retail level of the food supply chain by recommending and quantifying the effects of current technology that can be implemented in traditional supermarkets. This research recommends that retailers implement electronic shelf labels in stores and employ dynamic pricing of perishable products, leading to reduction of food waste. No prior research had considered the primary goal of reducing food waste while preserving retailer profit through technological implementation. This paper quantifies the effects of implementing this technology and provides economic justification of the required investment through the calculation of profitability metrics and discussion of environmental regulations retailers will soon have to abide by. Our results indicate, even in the most conservative of scenarios, that the payback period for full implementation of electronic shelf labels will be less than or slightly over one year and the return on investment is high in all situations discussed. Sensitivity analyses of labor costs, revenue, and profitability ratios are illustrated to provide a full breadth of these results.

The food industry is increasingly concerned with operational sustainability and food waste reduction. In the United States, the tomato industry was worth $1 billion in 2020, and tomatoes are currently ranked second as the most consumed vegetable after potatoes. Tomato processors have striven to valorize pomace by-products, which contain seeds with valuable compounds such as 45% fiber, 30% oil, and 26% protein. The U.S. peach industry, which was worth $599 million in 2017, is also looking for alternative ways to utilize their seeds, made up of 52% oil. Both tomato and peach seeds are rich in bioactive compounds such as carotenoids and polyphenols, respectively. Meanwhile, global edible oil production is forecasted to reach 632 million tons in 2022, and there is increasing interest to produce specialty oils. Organic solvent extractions are commonly used to extract oils from various commodities in the food industry, but this method comes with some environmental concerns, such as toxicity and flammability. Enzyme-assisted aqueous extractions (EAEP) have been proposed as a green alternative to solvent extractions of oilseeds. However, research on the economic feasibility of this process has been limited. There is a need for a better understanding of the potential of EAEP and performing such analysis on peach and tomato seeds would be valuable based on the importance of these commodities in California and in the U.S. in general. To determine whether applying such a process to tomato and peach seeds would be valuable, data on oil yields from EAEP, quality of the extracted oils, and economics associated with EAEP is needed. The U.S. snack food industry was worth approximately $42 billion as of 2019, and this market continues to grow as an increasing number of people eat snacks as meal replacements. There is also growing consumer demand for natural and functional foods, which offer health benefits beyond basic nutritional value, such as reducing risk of disease. Therefore, this consumer landscape provides excellent opportunities for by-products from vegetable and fruit processing to be transformed into functional ingredients. With these key ideas in mind, the objectives of this research were 1) to determine the impact of various extraction factors on oil yields from EAEP of tomato and peach seeds; 2) to evaluate the effect of aqueous extractions on oil quality; 3) study whether these processing steps are economically feasible for industrial commercialization and 4) identify another potential use for tomato pomace as a functional ingredient in snack food application. Tomato and peach seeds were each isolated and ground into a flour, then analyzed for fiber, fat, protein, moisture, and ash content. The effects of pH (set to 3, 9, and sequential adjustment of 3 followed by 9), time (2–8 h), and addition of cellulase, protease, and 1:1 enzymatic cocktail at a concentration of 4% were evaluated during aqueous extractions of tomato oils. Peach oil extractions were evaluated for the same parameters except for time which was fixed at 2 h. The impact of the pH of aqueous extractions on the oxidative stability and nutritional composition of tomato and peach oils were also determined. Techno-economic analyses were conducted using Superpro software to estimate operational costs and profits from this process. To assess the value of tomato by-product as a functional ingredient, pomace flour was added to crisp snacks at usage levels of 0 and 7% (w/w flour basis). Crisp snacks were stored at ambient room temperature and frozen temperatures (-23 °C) for ten weeks. Proximate analyses on the crisp snacks were conducted. Sensory evaluation was performed over time using hedonic scoring surveys. For tomato seeds, the highest oil yield (41%) was obtained during 2 h extractions at pH 9, which were 68% higher than from 2 h extractions performed at pH 3. Enzyme addition was only beneficial during 8 h extractions of tomato seeds using 4% cellulase at pH 3, which led to 53% higher oil yield compared to the control performed in the same conditions without enzymes. Increasing incubation time from 2 to 8 h improved oil yields by 63% for cellulase extractions at pH 3 and 69% for protease extractions at pH 9. Peach oil yield of the controls at pH 9 (53%) and the yield obtained with protease extractions at pH 9 (45%) were approximately eight times higher than all extractions set to pH 3. Once extracted, some properties of the tomato and peach oils were determined. The pH of the aqueous extractions did not have a significant effect on quality parameters on both tomato and peach oils, except for polyphenol content, DPPH production, peroxide and TBARS values. Overall, both tomato and peach oils had peroxide and free fatty acid values comparable to other specialty oils, such as sunflower and sesame oils. From a techno-economic point of view, tomato oil production at flow rate of 1,752,000 kg pomace/yr garnered $13 million in profit (equivalent to $7.42/kg pomace) after a payback time of 1.6 years, which was more profitable than the industry’s current pomace disposal practice. Peach oil processing became profitable once the production scale reached 65,700,000 kg pits/yr, which led to $15.5 million in profit ($0.24/kg pits). Overall, production of tomato oil was more profitable than peach oil. When tomato pomace was added into crisp snacks at 7% concentration, fiber increased by 35.2% compared to the control. Moisture content and water activity for the control and pomace crisp snacks remained constant during room temperature and frozen storage for ten weeks. However, the addition of tomato pomace led to a bitter aftertaste of the crisp snacks and reduced overall liking scores by panelists compared to scores for the control crisp snacks. Overall, this research took multiple, innovative approaches to valorize tomato and peach seeds, while also studying the economic, environmental, and industrial implications of such approaches. It highlighted alternative, sustainable strategies of how tomato and peach by-products could be repurposed to reduce waste and make value-added food products.

For years the issue of food waste has been recognized and quantified; however, food safety issues often go unrecognized as a source of food waste. One objective of this research is to estimate quantities and monetary value of fruits and vegetables implicated in food safety recalls, and thus wasted. Using publicly available data we identified all recalls involving vegetable or fruit commodities contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, pathogenic E. coli, or Salmonella during 2015-2018. When quantities were provided, monetary value of recalled product was calculated using USDA ERS 2016 average retail prices. Although data limitations only allowed analysis of 17% of the recalls that met the criteria of this study, we estimated an annual loss of 38 million pounds and $61 million in revenue. Overall this shows that food safety issues can result in food waste, therefore mitigation strategies are needed. There are many ways that produce can become contaminated, however contaminated soils are a potential source of produce contamination and treatments to mitigate this risk while maintaining soil health is lacking. Current biofumigation methods that use glucosinolate hydrolysis products in mustard seed meal to control plant pathogens could also be effective against foodborne pathogens in soil. The purpose of this research is to determine the fate of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and L. monocytogenes in soil treated with Brassica spp seed meal and plant material. Seed meals were successful in reducing pathogen concentrations in soil, significant reductions (p < 0.05) of E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella were observed in soil over 72 hours with the addition of 1.0 and 1.5 g of mustard seed meal. Increasing the seed meal concentration did not significantly (p > 0.05) increase the observed log reduction for L. monocytogenes or Salmonella, reductions ranged from 5.6 – 5.9 log CFU/g. However, for E. coli O157:H7 seed meal concentration was significant (p < 0.05). A 5.7 log CFU/g decrease was observed when 1.5 g of seed meal was used which was larger than 3.5 log CFU/g reduction observed with 1.0 g. Findings suggest that biofumigation with mustard seed meal could potentially be used to reduce E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella in contaminated soil. However, the use of plant material was not as successful as the use of the processed seed meals. In soil or in the absence of soil Brassica spp. plant material at 10% 15%, and 75% significantly increased E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella concentrations (p < 0.05). The results of these studies support literature indicating Brassica spp. processed plant products, like seed meals or extracts may be a more effective strategy in reducing human pathogen concentrations in contaminated agricultural soils. While the process of Biofumigation using Brassica spp. cover crops has been successful in eliminating plant pests from agricultural soils, due to its low isothiocyanate release efficiency and reactivity in soil organic matter, it may not be sufficient as a soil decontamination method against human pathogens.

The purpose of our thesis is to determine to what extent the cow milk and oat drink industries can implement a circular economy according to Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s definition. In addition, we will discuss the impact on the overall sustainability.  31% of the anthropogenic emissions stem from processes related to food production and in Sweden, a significant portion of these stem from the dairy industry– which has also been noticed by some oat drink companies. The problem is further amplified by the fact that a third of the food produced for human consumption ends up lost or wasted. Multiple laws and policies have been introduced to combat this, and new solutions are needed. A term that has gained popularity lately is the circular economy, which focuses on closing the loop and thus eliminating waste. That way, if would be possible to see the environmental impact from the oat drink and cow milk industries in a bigger perspective.  We have conducted a qualitative study using primary and secondary data. The primary data stems from 11 semi-structured interviews and the secondary data comes from relevant documents by the companies. An inductive approach was used.  The results showed that it is not possible for these industries to implement an entirely circular food supply chain because of the inevitable food waste. Overall, there is also a lack of terminology and measuring methods in both areas related to the CE. Yet, the work with food waste has come far within the individual companies but the coordination between companies that will allow them to cooperate requires further attention. The efforts should be aimed at the consumer level and seek to clarify the question of responsibility. Furthermore, the difficulties in profitability must be solved, and an improved compensation system is needed. Finally, we noted that a circular economy is not by definition perfectly sustainable, and that changes in the oat drink can lead to other implications of a study like this one.

Thailand is called the kitchen of the world; the country produces food and beverage products and exports around the globe. According to previous studies, there is not enough data on food waste in Thailand and worldwide. This study aims to analyse the characteristic of the loop of learning in assisting the process of organizational change and explain how it can support sustainable change in Food Waste Management. Even though a loop of learning is used frequently to develop changes in organizations, the relationship between organisational learning methods and organisational change is still not yet identified.  The qualitative method, particularly a case study, was used to accomplish the aim. The case study focuses on how production companies develop their organisational change toward sustainable Food Waste Management in Thailand by aligning the management's thinking level with a loop of learning. The data collection method is a semi-structured interview with 12 managers of different food and beverage manufacturing companies. The results show that current actions are 1) following the existing regulation and finding solutions for challenges, 2) developing better methods and re-using waste, and 3) setting new strategies to achieve sustainable Food Waste Management. Thus, those actions have the quality of single, double and triple-loop learning.  Furthermore, the research findings indicate that changing norms with environmental concerns can influence other factors, such as laws and stakeholder expectations. The organizational change process must involve continually thinking in the loop of learning from an individual and organisational perspective. These authors conclude that the nature of loop learning is a process that individuals and organizations can use to identify and reclaim problems; this process assists organization to realise the need for changes and continue developing solutions for those matters. The outcomes of continuous thinking will present changes in action which reach organisational change.

Anaerobic digestion is perhaps the simplest and most widely accepted method for solids and residuals management in the field of wastewater treatment. An emerging trend with regard to anaerobic digestion is the addition of additional organic or industrial wastes rich in degradable material (COD) that can lead to increased methane production and reduce the energy demand of the facility. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of adding significant quantities (>20% of feed volume) of High Strength Food Wastes (HSW) to digesters treating conventional municipal sludge by monitoring key parameters such as pH, influent and effluent solids, ammonia, Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs) and alkalinity. Daily gas production was also closely monitored. Four digesters were set up and exposed to different food waste loading rates. A comparison was drawn between the performance of these reactors, one of which was fed only with sewage sludge and served as the control. If the bacteria in the system are able to metabolize this additional COD, it should show up as an increase in gas production with little or no increase in effluent COD. Ammonia is another crucial parameter that needs to be closely watched as it can have an inhibitory effect on methane production. As part of this study, the impact of addition of free ammonium (simulating high ammonium concentration in the feed sludge or food waste) on digester performance was assessed. The digesters were closely monitored for signs of poor performance or failure. / Master of Science

Food waste is a global concern with significant environmental, economic, and social implications. Despite efforts to address the issue, household-level food waste remains substantial, contributing to food insecurity and environmental degradation. This study aims to explore factors triggering food waste behavior within households and examines how grocery retailers can nudge consumers toward environmentally sustainable food waste practices. A qualitative research design was used, involving semi-structured interviews with 20 participants in Sweden responsible for food management. Thematic analysis of interview recordings revealed key findings. Participants' food waste awareness centered on economic concerns, with limited consideration for environmental and social impacts. Planning emerged as a crucial aspect of food waste reduction, highlighting the need for tools like shopping lists. Additionally, conscious shopping habits were associated with reduced food waste, regardless of frequency or bulk purchasing tendencies. The practical implications for retailers include raising awareness through educational campaigns, integrating waste reduction messages into marketing materials, and providing inventory management tools and personalized shopping lists. Retailers can further support sustainable food waste behavior by offering recipe suggestions and workshops on food disposal or repurposing. Implementing these strategies can contribute to more sustainable food waste practices.

Klimatet har på senare tid blivit en av de mest omdiskuterade och viktigaste frågorna i samhället. Om Parisavtalets mål om att hålla den globala temperaturökningen under 2 grader skall lyckas, måste utsläppen av växthusgaser att minska. Det finns ett flertal sätt till att minska växthusgasutsläppen, och ett av sättet är med hjälp av ett minskat matsvinn från hushåll, vilket bland annat är något FN uppmärksammat bland sina 17 hållbarhetsmålet satta till år 2030. I dagsläget slängs en ohållbar mängd mat, och en av anledningarna är av bortglömde matlådor vars innehåll har behövt slängas på grund av att bäst före-datumet passerats. Den här studien kommer att undersöka om det går, med en framtagen intervention designad med utgångspunk i beteendeförädringsramverket The Behaviour Change Wheel, att uppmuntra till ett beteende för ett minskat matsvinn. Interventionen kommer att innefatta ett inläsningssystem för matlådor, vars syfte är att hjälpa dess användare att hålla koll på sina matlådor. Sex deltagare blev rekryterade till studien utifrån en enkät, och fick under en tvåveckorsperiod testa på att använda inläsningssystemet. Resultatet skulle indikera på att inläsningssystemet fungerade som tänkt för vissa av deltagarna, men att den för andra deltagare inte gjorde det. Detta berodde emellertid inte på systemet i sig, utan istället till vilken grad deltagaren hade använt matlådor. / The climate debate has recently become one of the most discussed and important topics. If the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees, the reduction of greenhouse gas emission is vital. There are several ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the ways is throughout a reduced food waste. This is also a topic that the UN has taken notice of among its 17 sustainable development goals set by 2030. At present, an unsustainable amount of food is thrown away, and one of the reasons is because of forgotten food boxes whose content has had to be thrown away because the expiration date has passed. This study will investigate if it is possible, with an intervention designed based on The Behavior Change Wheel framework, to encourages a behavior for a reduced food waste. The intervention will consist of a scanning system for food boxes, whose purpose is to help its user to keep track of their food boxes. Six participants were recruited to the study based on a questionnaire and got to test the scanning system for a two-week period. The result would indicate that the system worked as intended for some of the participants, but not for some others. This was not due to the system itself, but instead to what extent the participant had used food boxes.

Allt eftersom klimatkrisen fortskrider ökar engagemanget kring hållbarhet inom företag. Växthusgaser är ett av de största problemen och matsvinn har därför fått mycket uppmärksamhet sedan det utnämndes till den tredje största bidragaren till de globala utsläppen. För att minska sitt bidrag rabatterar många matbutiker produkter med kort bästföredatum, vilket kommit att kräva en förståelse för hur priskänslig efterfrågan på denna typ av produkt är. Prisoptimering görs vanligtvis med så kallade Generalized Linear Models men då efterfrågan är ett komplext koncept har maskininl ärningsmetoder börjat utmana de traditionella modellerna. En sådan metod är Random Forest Regression, och syftet med uppsatsen är att utreda ifall modellen är bättre på att estimera efterfrågan baserat på rabattnivå än en klassisk linjär modell. Vidare utreds det ifall ett tydligt linjärt samband existerar mellan rabattnivå och efterfrågan, samt ifall detta beror av produkttyp. Resultaten visar på att Random Forest tar bättre hänsyn till det komplexa samband som visade sig finnas, och i detta specifika fall presterar bättre. Vidare visade resultaten att det sammantaget inte finns något linjärt samband, men att vissa produktkategorier uppvisar svag linjäritet. / As the climate crisis continues to evolve many companies focus their development on becoming more sustainable. With greenhouse gases being highlighted as the main problem, food waste has obtained a great deal of attention after being named the third largest contributor to global emissions. One way retailers have attempted to improve is through offering close-to-date produce at discount, hence decreasing levels of food being thrown away. To minimize waste the level of discount must be optimized, and as the products can be seen as flawed the known price-to-demand relation of the products may be insufficient. The optimization process historically involves generalized linear regression models, however demand is a complex concept influenced by many factors. This report investigates whether a Machine Learning model, Random Forest Regression, is better at estimating the demand of close-to-date products at different discount levels than a basic linear regression model. The discussion also includes an analysis on whether discounts always increase the will to buy and whether this depends on product type. The results show that Random Forest to a greater extent considers the many factors influencing demand and is superior as a predictor in this case. Furthermore it was concluded that there is generally not a clear linear relation however this does depend on product type as certain categories showed some linearity.

The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perception of student school meal preferences in an elementary school setting. This was a cross-sectional mixed-methods study that is part of a larger study to develop a nutrition education program for elementary school children. Focus groups and surveys were administered to faculty at a charter school in downtown Orlando to gain insight into the types of food offered at school and student response to these food items. All members of the faculty were invited to participate in the study, and seven teachers volunteered to take part in this study. Focus groups were recorded using tape recorders; they were then transcribed verbatim and coded independently by two research assistants. Results of this study showed that according to members of faculty, overall, the food served in school during breakfast and lunch is of poor quality. Portion sizes were acceptable according to participants, however, there is still too much food is being wasted. The students do not respond well to breakfast or lunch, which has adversely affected the academic performance of students as well as their classroom behavior due to hunger and low energy levels. It was also noted that older children expressed interest in learning about topics pertaining to nutrition. This study is the first stage of a larger initiative to develop nutrition education programs and to encourage conversation regarding school meal reform, especially as it pertains to those individuals of low socioeconomic status. The implications for this study could be beneficial for a wide-range of children who attend school on a daily basis.