Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on household food waste behaviour: A systematic review

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Appetite

Volume

176

PubMed ID

35714820

Publisher

Elsevier

School

School of Business and Law

RAS ID

52065

Comments

Iranmanesh, M., Ghobakhloo, M., Nilsashi, M., Tseng, M. L., Senali, M. G., & Abbasi, G. A. (2022). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on household food waste behaviour: A systematic review. Appetite, 176, 106127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106127

Abstract

Food waste has adverse economic, social, and environmental impacts and increases the prevalence of food insecurity. Panic buying at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak raised serious concerns about a potential rise in food waste levels and higher pressure on waste management systems. This article aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on food waste behaviour and the extent to which it occurs using the systematic review method. A total of 38 articles were identified and reviewed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The findings showed that the COVID-19 pandemic led to reductions in household food waste in most countries. Several changes in shopping and cooking behaviours, food consumption, and managing inventory and leftovers have occurred due to COVID-19. Based on these insights, we predicted that some desirable food-management habits would be retained, and others would roll back in the post-COVID-19 world. The review contributes to the food waste literature by offering a comprehensive overview of behavioural changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and future research directions.

DOI

10.1016/j.appet.2022.106127

Access Rights

free_to_read

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