Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I hope Senator Conway understands the banter in the House. I am simply concerned about the few minutes that are left. I meant no reflection on his contribution which was excellent, as always.

Media reports suggest that the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, intends to introduce legislation on calorie counting on labelling. While this is not within the mandate of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, the two cross over. I draw the Minister's attention to an article in yesterday's health supplement to The Irish Times , which raises questions about the efficacy of calorie counting and questions whether it reduces obesity or increases people's awareness of what and how much they should be eating.

We throw away approximately one third of all the food we buy. The main foods wasted are potatoes, bread, apples, meat and fish. Half of all salads, one third of all bread and a quarter of all fruitbought is thrown out. Does the Minister agree that this is an issue of public awareness? For example, confusion and misinterpretation of date labelling is widely recognised as contributing to the generation of household food waste, leading to the discard of still edible food. It is now common practice to label the sell-by date and the best-before date, which is confusing labelling. This is done by all food manufacturers. Food is perishable, so people stick rigidly to the labelling information. The Minister is probably aware that manufacturers tend to err on the side of caution and give dates that are sooner than strictly necessary.

The practice of taking leftovers home from restaurants is not universally accepted across Europe. It is a cultural thing in the United States where there is no difficulty in diners asking to have uneaten food wrapped to take home in a doggy bag. There is a strong potential to reduce waste of restaurant food.

Awareness of food waste is currently low but it is rising with environmental awareness. I compliment Senator Quinn and others on tabling this motion. I thank the Minister and I hope Senator Conway and I will remain good friends.