Guess how many tonnes of food Malaysians waste daily

The next time you complain about not having enough food to eat, you should first check how much food you’re subconciously throwing away.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Nogeh Gumbek told The Star Online at the opening of the ‘MySaveFood’ forum in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday that Malaysians waste a lot of food daily.

How much, you ask?

Malaysians waste a jaw-dropping 15,000 tonnes of food daily, with 3,000 tonnes still fit for consumption!

Here’s another (not so) fun fact: 15,000 tonnes is equivalent to 1.5 million bags of 10kg rice!

The amount is alarming, and Nogeh said that the increasing food wastage, especially during festive seasons, needs to be curbed.

“Research conducted by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) shows that 28.4% of the padi produced is wasted,” he was quoted as saying.

“As for fruits and vegetables, 20%-50% is thrown away.”