Plate waste of adults in the United States measured in free-living conditions
Open accessAbstract
We analyze food-item level data collected from 50 adults from the United States using the Remote Food Photography Method® to provide the first estimates of plate waste gathered from adults across multiple consecutive meals and days in free-living conditions, and during laboratory-based meals with fixed food items and quantities. We find average plate waste in free-living conditions is 5.6 grams (7.7 kcals) per item and that 3.3% of all food selected is returned as plate waste, where the percent waste figure is substantially lower than previously published plate waste estimates gathered primarily from dine-out settings in the United States such as buffets and institutional settings with limited-choice meals (e.g., school cafeterias). Plate waste from the same participants during the laboratory-based meals is significantly higher with an average of 203.2 grams of solid plate waste per meal (531.3 kcals) or 39.1% of the food provided, which is similar to the plate waste percentages found reported in some school cafeteria settings. The amount of plate waste generated in free-living conditions is significantly positively associated with portion size selected for an item. In a multivariate analysis that controls for macronutrient profile, items selected from the vegetables, fats/oils/dressings, and grains categories are associated with significantly greater amounts of plate waste per item. We find no significant associations between free-living plate waste and gender, age, race or body mass index but find that women leave more plate waste in the lab meal where portion sizes are pre-determined by the researcher and similar for all respondents. We discuss possible implications of these findings for programs focused on reducing plate waste and food waste among consumers.
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A recent study found a positive relationship between the amount of food selected at each meal and the amount of plate waste.
“In a recent study, researchers found a positive relationship between the amount of food selected at each meal and the amount of plate waste, suggesting a need to better align satiety levels with food portioning.[55]”
From Relationship between food waste, diet quality, and environmental sustainability (2018) · cites this paper as [55]
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- Authors
- Roe, B. E., Apolzan, J. W., Qi, D., Allen, H. R., & Martin, C. K.
- Affiliations
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Pennington Biomedical Research Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Roe, Brian E.
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2018-02-14
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e0191813
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5812590
- OpenAlex
- W2792501229
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 5.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (R21 AG032231)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NORC Center Grant # P30DK072476)
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (20176702326268)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Keywords
- plate waste, food waste, free-living conditions, portion size, food choice, gender differences, food waste reduction
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Female, Food Services, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, United States, Young Adult
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