We fight food waste. Both in terms of food preparation, and above all with healthy habits. And not only for the environment, but also for our health. Why thanks to food reformulation We can help the world that surrounds us and exploit to the end how much our well -being can favor, in a sector that must see all committed.
Think: according to Eurostat 2024 data, in the European Union Almost 59 million tons of food are wasted every yearequal to 14% of the total food produced. Much of this (19%) is due to the raw materials discarded by the agri -food industries such as skins, seeds and filmsexcluded due to processing or limited acceptance problems by consumers. What can be done? Here are the proposals that come from the conference “Food, health and environment: between present and future“, Held in the context of the National Congress of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition (Sinu) of Salerno.
Practical proposals
The matrices of those who are considered scraps, such as precisely peels or seeds, they are actually real “piggy bank” compounds from important nutritional valueas fibers and antioxidants. Indeed, according to the experts, it may happen that what is eliminated contains nutrients in quantities higher than those of the product that continues the commercial supply chain.
For this the food reformulation It is important. It is a strategy that is applied to improve the nutritional profile of industrial foods el‘Use of these waste matrices As ingredients it could have the dual purpose of decreasing food waste and improving the consumer diet, increasing the contribution of critical nutrients such as fibers.
In this context, at the Nutrition Laboratory of the University of Tuscia (Unitus) they are studying Two waste matrices which record high quantities of waste every year, or the processing residues of the tomato (peels and seeds) and those of the hazelnut (external film). Both of these matrices today are thrown into the fields as fertilizers, used in animal nutrition, or disposed of as organic waste. However they are rich in fiber, antioxidant substances and unsaturated fatty acids.
Let’s not lose the “good” of the hazelnut
“The studies carried out have shown that the 10% replacement of refined flour with dust obtained from hazelnut films in a shortbread biscuit determines a significant increase in the monounsaturated fatty acidsin addition to a reduction of saturated fatty acids, being able to replace the butter of the recipe with fats naturally present in the hazelnut film. In addition, the antioxidant capacity It has increased by five times compared to a classic shortbread biscuit “
Report Lara Costantini, Deb – Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences Unitus and member of the Sinu Giovani Group.
As if that were not enough, the inclusion of the hazelnut film It determines a significant increase in the fiber content greater than 6% and therefore allows the experimental biscuit to be labeled as “Rich in fiber” According to European legislation, also showing a significant prebiotic activity in a vitro culture of Lactobabilus. rhamnosus. All this, with a taste that meets the pleasure of users.
The sensory analyzes carried out both on consumers and on a panel of experts have highlighted positive scores for the inclusion of 10% of the hazelnut film in all reformulated products, also managing to significantly improve the score of a 100% lentil -based flour -based baked goods, thanks to its specific composition in volatile compounds.
Hopes for tomato
Encouraging data, although preliminary, were also obtained for the residue of processing of the San Marzano tomato, Finding fiber values of about 40% higher than the tomato powder that is found on the market and obtained from whole tomato. In addition, the experimental powders obtained from the residue of the tomato processing show significantly greater data than antioxidant capacity thanks to their full content of phenolic compounds.
All these data indicate as a whole that the hazelnut film and the residual of tomato processing could be precious ingredients to increase the nutritional, antioxidant and sensory characteristics of conventional foods in the perspective ofcircular economy.
“There healthy nutrition Today it plays a crucial role for our well -being and for the sustainability of the planet. Correct nutritional knowledge can guide the eating habits Towards more aware choices, for example by reducing waste and transforming food waste into new resources. Our national congress represents, in this sense, an essential platform for scientific and cultural exchange, aiming to positively influence the future of human nutrition and therefore of public health “
It is the comment Anna Tagliabue, President Sinu.
What is meant by waste
To understand how food waste was born, regardless of what happens in everyone’s homes, you have to start from what is meant by food availabilityunderstood as the total of production along the entire agri -food chain. In this sense, three different main components must be summarized:
- one is the consumption by man, with the food that comes to the consumer through traditional channels and is consumed by humans;
- the second is lo food wastewhich represents the part of non -edible food, not intended for human consumption, such as the hazelnuts that we discard with peaches and apricots;
- The third is represented bysurplusthat is, from how much it would be available, as well as good and safe, along the supply chain, but it does not come consumed in the end.
For this reason, speaking of food waste, it is good to pay attention to the distinction between the non -edible part of food (food waste) and the edible one for man; The latter is the only component that can actually be wasted. And with food reformulation, in the end, they can be recovered Principles useful for us and for the environment.
