Fourteenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Our objective is to enhance our understanding of food loss and waste (FLW) worldwide and thus contribute to the development of more sustainable agrifood systems. For this, we analyzed theories related to the theme, governance relationships in agrifood systems, and actions performed by actors of the supply network of foods, inputs, and/or materials, actors of the processing sector, and buyers. We performed a quantitative systematic literature review to map the available literature on FLW. The quantitative bibliometric tool Bibliometrix of R software was used. Articles were searched in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Studies on FLW focused on different topics. The main approaches included life cycle analysis for the assessment of environmental impacts, assessment of supply chain and stakeholder actions, weight estimates of food losses, discussions on circular economy, and analysis of sociotechnical transitions. The articles that addressed governance showed the need for stakeholders to contribute to the development of packaging solutions with an improved environmental profile. Packaging was also discussed in articles describing actions for reducing food losses and integrating the use of electronic devices, wireless communication, and cloud data storage in food chain management. Studies made use of novel technologies, such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and machine learning, either for the preparation of new packaging materials or for supply chain integration. The original contribution is the critical examination of methodologies for FLW assessment, revealing the need for practical and innovative approaches, data validation, and standardized methods for application in different countries and organizations.