Abstract Data on the extent of food loss and waste and on the destinations of lost and wasted food during the upstream stages of supply chains – primary production and processing – are currently scarce in France and in other industrialized countries. The reasons include a lack of available measurements, wide differences in the definition of what food loss and waste are at these stages, and, especially in the primary sector, its diversity. Research plays an essential role in filling this knowledge gap in order to support decision-makers in adopting strategies for more sustainable food use, to innovate in technology and practices aimed at food loss and waste reduction, and to raise awareness about the role of food in human societies. This study aimed to answer key questions on: i) the extent of food loss and waste at the upstream stages of food supply chains in industrialized countries; ii) how it can be measured at these stages; and iii) the role that reuse and recycling play in the reduction of food loss and waste. The paper provides answers to these questions and discusses methodological issues of food loss quantification relevant to the upstream stages of food supply chains. In this study, food loss is defined as discarded or lost food products, initially intended for human consumption, unless they were used for animal feed (excluding pet food). INRA internal multidisciplinary working groups organized per food sector collected data from a large array of available reports, published studies, and interviews with technical experts and businesses. Four plant sectors (cereals, pulses, oil crops, and fruit/vegetables/potatoes) and six animal sectors (milk, beef, lamb, pork, poultry, eggs, and farmed fish) were analyzed. The results indicate that food loss does indeed occur at the upstream stages of supply chains. The role of the different supply chain stages varies between the food sectors. Based on our study results for the year 2013, between 3 and 11% of food was lost, and up to 12% for fruit, vegetables and potatoes, from production to processing (up to retailing in the case of fruit and vegetables). Recycling, including reuse of discarded food directly as food or indirectly as animal feed, plays a moderate role in food waste reduction during primary production and processing. Our paper shows the limits of implementation, in terms of method and access to data, of the current quantification framework at these stages. Because of data scarcity, a wide range of data sources was used to gather information which, with the help of experts, was interpreted, converted and recalculated into food loss estimates. We therefore argue for a food sector-specific approach to data collection and to the identification of food loss determinants and solutions for reduction. Insights from our study point out the need for improvements towards a more handy and robust quantification framework.
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