“Give it to the poor”: France bans supermarkets from wasting unsold food
In France, supermarkets work hard to keep foods they no longer sell away from the reach of the poor.
When the foods are no longer offered for sale, they are locked up in some warehouses and left to rot. Foods that can’t be locked away are bathed in bleach so the poor who search waste bins for food won’t eat them.
And that practice contributes to how France wastes lots of food every year.
It’s estimated that the European giant wastes 20 to 30 kilograms of food per person each year. That’s food that weighs as much as half of a bag of cement. Multiply that by the 66 million people who live in France, and the figure is huge.
The French government says it won’t let that happen again. It, Wednesday, passed a law banning supermarkets from throwing away or spoiling unsold food.
The law applies to big supermarkets. Those who break it could be fined up to £3,750 (N830,000).
French networks that donate food to the poor have welcome the move. They say it would be good for other European countries to follow suit..
