Fussy eaters: Is your family wasting food?

We're all guilty of wasting food but a new study has found just how much families are throwing away and the results will shock you!

Food waste disposal firm InSinkErator commissioned the research and discovered that parents serve 1,460 evening meals to their family during an average year, but end up chucking out the equivalent of OVER A QUARTER of those!

Wow! That's around 394 delicious plates of food going uneaten.

And it was all down to a combination of fussy eaters, snacking before mealtimes and poor appetites. Almost a quarter of parents even admitted to often cooking meals knowing full well a large amount of it will end up in the bin.

A spokesperson for InSinkErator said: “Mealtimes can often be a chaotic and stressful time for families, whether that’s because of a lack of time to get everything prepared or because family members don’t want to eat what’s on their plate.

“Parents will spend a large chunk of their time preparing and cooking evening meals for the family, so it can be frustrating to end up throwing so much of that food away.

“Not only that, but there is a cost implication to think about, with all of that wasted food coming out of their pocket and into the bin.”

The poll of 2,000 parents found eight in ten regularly end up throwing away at least part of their children’s meals.

Forty-five per cent blame this on their little ones being fussy eaters with 57 per cent admitting they have put a meal in front of their child, only to have them completely refuse to eat it. Yup!

And a staggering 78 per cent had dealt with a child turning down a meal because they ‘didn’t like it’ – despite eating it happily in the past.

We've all been there, right?

It also emerged salad is the dish most likely to be left by children (predictable...), followed by meat and veg, stir-fry and risotto.

But children aren’t the only ones to blame as the poll, carried out on OnePoll.com, also found the average adult leaves behind around a quarter of what’s on their plate. That'll be all the crisps before dinner then!

The study also found almost one in four worry about the amount of food they throw away, but more than half of those questioned admitted they have no idea what happens to their food when it leaves their home, with 46 per cent believing it simply goes to landfill.

A spokesperson for InSinkErator, added: “Despite our very best efforts to reduce food waste in the home, a small amount is inevitable, as many of us are faced with the difficulty of disposing of our banana skins, egg shells and food scraps.

“A food waste disposer is a discreet asset to any home and provides households with a safe, simple and effective way to dispose of food waste in a convenient and hygienic manner.”

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Are your family guilty of throwing away too much left over food? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

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