Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann, noting that:

- research on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency shows that Irish consumers throw away 1 million tonnes of food a year which is approximately 30% of food bought;

- the average person throws out almost 300 kg of 'black bin rubbish' every year, and about one third of this waste is food waste. This is the equivalent of 3,750 apples;

- this waste costs every household in Ireland about €1,000 per year;

- restaurants dispose of about €125 million worth of food every year;

- wastage is a huge financial cost to the State through the dumping of it in landfills;

- food wastage is a major factor in greenhouse gas emissions through rotting;

- food is inadequately labelled and its true origin is often obscured to the consumer;

- food is inadequately labelled in terms of content;

- there is a childhood obesity epidemic with more than 300,000 children considered obese;

- most requirements of the new EU Food Information Regulations requirements do not apply until 2014 and nutrition labelling will become mandatory in 2016;

calls on the Government to introduce proper food labelling to improve information to consumers and other food safety measures:

- including the provision of 'consume by' dates of food products, in tandem with the 'best before' and 'sell by' dates' (that is, many foods are in fact edible after the 'best before' or the 'sell by' or 'display until' dates used by retailers) to reduce food wastage;

- immediately ensure ''verifiable country of origin'' labelling on all farm produce sold by retailers to ensure that consumers are not confused and undermine local producers by passing off imports as Irish as is the case currently (e.g. through the use of tricolours, shamrocks, green labels and so on) - especially as the EU debate about country of origin labelling has effectively been postponed;

- ensure that terms like ''Irish food'' can only be used after specific criteria are satisfied - by doing so, it will help to stimulate growth in the economy by allowing consumers to buy produce verifiably produced in Ireland;

- include labelling on food so that Irish consumers know exactly from where their products originate;

- given that it is estimated that up to 25% of an individual's carbon footprint is associated with their diet, consider the introduction of labelling for products with at least 25% greenhouse gas savings (as in Sweden) to provide consumers with the ability to make an informed choice and with the ability to see how some products are more sustainable than others;

- introduce labelling with clearer food storage instructions to reduce waste;

- consider the introduction of simpler food labelling for food products aimed at children;

- teach primary school children more effectively about food and food labelling, emphasising healthy eating and continue to examine existing advertising regulations with regard to children and clarify the potential tax on fatty foods; and

- welcomes the European Commission's proposal for the introduction, for the first time and on a voluntary basis, of an electronic identification system (EID) for bovine animals by repealing the current provisions on voluntary beef labelling; and

to consider additional measures to reduce waste, including, but not limited to:

- introducing a proper system for distributing leftover food to those most in need and to the appropriate charities; including ensuring that any catering procured by the State will be required to redistribute that food to vulnerable groups;

- encouraging retailers to allow '2 for 1' offers to be redeemed at a later date through a voucher system, discouraging waste; and

- encouraging producers and retailers to reduce packaging including the introduction of biodegradable packaging and packaging that keeps fresh produce edible for longer in addition to making packaging easier to open for the elderly or disabled.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney and am delighted he has come to the House. I have been in the food business all my life and have been interested in making sure that those who have a responsibility in the food business are able to do something useful. One of my heroes was Mr. Norman Borlaug, the 1970 Nobel Prize winner, who died two years ago. He was the man who fed the world, or that is how he was known. He recognised that there was a problem of people dying of starvation and he perfected a form of wheat that was able to save a million lives. It is said that over his lifetime he saved 1 billion lives, which gives some idea of what a person can do if that person is determined and says "I can achieve a lot".

When I look at the problems in the world and wonder to what extent we can do something about them, I realise is there is huge waste in Ireland, in particular waste of food, and that there are things we can do about it. I would love to see us do something about those things because the number of people dying in the world because they do not get enough to eat is a scandal.

An article in The Guardian today is headlined "Hunger crisis kills 2.6m children a year". That figure is far higher than I had thought. The article states:

Malnutrition is the root cause of the deaths of 2.6 million children each year, and the bodies and brains of 450 million more will fail to develop properly due to inadequate diet over the next 15 years unless immediate action is taken, according to a survey published on Wednesday by a leading international charity. The survey of developing countries ... produced by Save the Children, estimates one in four children are already stunted because of malnutrition.

The chief executive of Save the Children said:

This is a hidden hunger crisis that could destroy the lives of nearly half a billion children unless world leaders act to stop it. Every hour of every day 300 children die from malnutrition-related causes simply because they don't get to eat the basic, nutritious foods that we take for granted in the [West]. Yet solutions are clear, cheap and necessary. Not only will tackling hunger save children's lives but, at a time of economic meltdown, it will help reboot the global economy.

Ireland has set the standard in taking action on other issues. We were the first to ban smoking in public places and the first to take steps to discourage the use of plastic bags. Others have followed where we led. Likewise, there are actions we can take to reduce food wastage, but success in this regard will require commitment, encouragement and support from the Minister. In tabling this motion my objective is to draw attention to what we in Ireland can do. When I saw that the Government had proposed an amendment, I expected the gist of it to be that I had not gone far enough in my proposals and that there was much more that could be done. I am extremely disappointed that this is not the case. I hope the Minister will not press the amendment because it does not add to the proposal. Rather, it seems to suggest we are already doing enough. I hope, therefore, the Minister will reconsider it.

A massive amount of food is wasted in the State every year while people are dying of starvation elsewhere in the world. Almost 1 billion people in developing countries go hungry every day owing to food shortages. World food prices, as tracked by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, reached their highest ever level in February 2011, while food riots erupted in Haiti to Egypt. Here in the West, on the other hand, obesity is a major disease. How can we go on throwing out one third of the food we buy, while people in other countries starve? In addition, this level of waste imposes a huge cost on the State through waste disposal and is a massive contributor to CO2 emissions. Changes in behaviour will require a combination of legislation, information and encouragement.

While an EU regulation on food information and nutrition labelling will come into force in the coming years, there are several vital issues that must be addressed immediately. Part of the reason food is thrown out is that labelling is unclear and there is a lack of information for the consumer. There is real confusion about what the various dates on products actually mean and this is not helped by instructions such as "display until", "sell by", "use by", "consume by" and "best before". As somebody who was involved in the business for many years, I am well aware that these labels are for the benefit of the retailer, not the customer. People see these labels and assume it is unsafe to consumer a product after the specified date, even though this is often not the case. I recall a customer complaining that the potatoes for sale in our supermarket were out of date. I was incredulous that potatoes could be out of date. They had come into the store on a Monday and the best before date was the following Friday. Our potato supplier had labelled them thus because, being new potatoes, they would be at their most delicious if eaten within three or four days. In other words, there was nothing wrong with them two weeks later, but they were more delicious if eaten immediately. However, customers made the mistake of assuming they were unsafe to eat after the specified date.

It is clear that most products featuring the "sell by" and "best before" labels are capable of being eaten after the date printed on the label, although they may no longer have the flavour the producer would like. Should we simply throw out fruit and vegetables that have lost some colour or gone a little soft? I read an article in recent days about a German pensioner who had discovered in his home a tin of American lard which he had received in an aid package after the war. Upon tasting it, he discovered that, 64 years later, it was still edible. I am not advising Members to follow his example, but it is remarkable to consider. A German food expert observed that the test results on the lard might make consumers think twice before discarding food immediately after the expiry date.

It may be time to move towards a simplification of food labelling. In the United Kingdom, instead of marking foods as best before a certain date, it is proposed that in future producers use labels giving details of the health risks associated with individual foods that remain on the shelves or in the fridge for a lengthy period. This type of change does not require legislation. All that is needed is to encourage companies to participate. Natural competitiveness will work to our benefit and probably provide a better solution than if we, as legislators or civil servants, were to impose specific requirements on producers. We can achieve a great deal on that basis.

Research shows that Irish consumers throw out 1 million tonnes of food every year, which is approximately 30% of all food purchased. The average person disposes of 300 kg of black bin rubbish every year, some one third of which is food waste. The average cost per household of disposing of this waste is €1,000 per annum. We can do a great deal to reduce that level of wastage. In the retail trade we often offer incentives to customers in the form of two for the price of one or buy two and get one free offers. In order to discourage waste, retailers might instead offer a buy two and get a voucher for a third incentive. If it is a fresh food product, most people do not need a third. I am not proposing that this type of system be imposed on retailers, but it is the type of suggestion we should encourage.

I hope the Government amendment which adds nothing to my proposals will be withdrawn. I have no problem in accepting the Sinn Féin Party amendment.