New approach needed to tackle food wastage

There needs to be a new approach to prevent continuous food wastage, especially during the month of Ramadan, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

He said among the factors contributing to food wastage during the fasting month was that about 50 percent of the buffet spread at hotels were thrown away after the breaking-of-fast, although the patrons had paid a high price for the buffet.

"There should be a new approach and rule to reduce such wastage, for example, untouched leftover food from the buffet can be given away to others in need instead of simply discarding it."

Wan Junaidi said this when asked to comment on the suggestion by social activist Lee Lam Thye for the government to hold awareness programmes to curb food wastage.

Yesterday, Lee said that studies conducted by Solid Waste Management and Urban Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) showed that Malaysians wasted about 17,800 tonnes of food daily.

Earlier, Wan Junaidi who is also Santubong member of parliament, handed out Ramadan welfare aid to 810 recipients including the elderly, orphans and the disabled from the Seberang Hilir and Santubong zones.- Mkini