Food waste worse than previously thought

Each person on the planet wastes more than 500 calories of food every day, according to researchers from the Netherlands who say the squandering contributes to global warming and does nothing to feed the hungry.

"From what we currently have in our kitchens, we could feed five persons instead of four," Thom Achterbosch of Wageningen University told the BBC.

He was part of a team that found previous estimates of food waste, which pegged the average person's at 214 calories, were far too low. The researchers say the actual figure is more like 527 calories. People typically need between 2,000 and 2,500 calories a day to flourish.