DETERMINING SCALE AND CAUSES OF FOOD LOSSES IN TRADE EXEMPLIFIED BY MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS

Abstract

© 2014, Polish Food Technologist Society. All rights reserved. The objective of the research study was to determine the causes and to estimate the size of food losses occurring in milk and its products in trade. The questionnaire survey was conducted in 117 shopping centres located in the Mazovian (84 objects) and Podkarpacie Provinces (33 objects). Based at the results obtained, it was found that the largest quantitative losses of dairy products occurred in the discount stores, next, in the large local stores, and in the small supermarkets. The most common wastage cause of milk and its products in trade was the exceeded shelf life (78% of all the losses reported in the survey). Based on the authors' own research and reference data contained in Literature, it would be necessary, in order to eliminate food losses in trade, to develop rational management procedures of foods withdrawn from sale. One of the ways to recover foods is donating it to non-governmental organizations dealing with the redistribution of excess food to the social groups, which need it.