According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about 5 billion tons of food is produced annually in the world, but one-third of it is discarded, making food loss and waste a global social issue that not only wastes resources but also has a negative impact on the environment. As a solution to this problem, Osaka university will solve the important issues of SDG 12.3, which is the basis for the formulation of the vision, through “Food DX” by focusing on the social implementation of “new technology related to food” and research teams working on “social problems related to food,” aiming to create a society where food loss is reduced and ethical consumption is realized.
What is SDGｓ?
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations, are a set of global goals to be achieved between 2016 and 2030. The SDGs include 17 goals and 169 targets that are more specific to those goals.
What issue of the SDG12.3 ?
By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses
What is “Food DX” ?
“Food DX” means “Digital Transformation of Food” itself. This refers to what can be achieved by integrating traceability (understanding how products are made of, distributed, and sold) based on cutting-edge technologies, such as metabolomics profiling and freeze-drying technology, as well as advanced semiconductor’s technologies.
What is the ethical consumption ?
It means to consume in a way that is considerate of the global environment, people, society, and the community.
Here is our mission against the current situation and problems of food loss and waste.
There are five major causes of food loss and waste
Andre Andonian, 2020. Future of Food and Agriculture deciphered by McKinsey Japan Managing Partner. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha
It is believed that food loss and waste is caused by five major factors: production loss (9%), storage loss (8%), processing loss (4%), distribution loss (4%), and consumption loss (8%). We pursued and analyzed the causes of each loss, discussed countermeasure guidelines, and came up with the following research approach.
Main reasons of production loss
Most of the production losses occur when food is discarded in the production area because the cost of harvesting and shipping cannot be recovered due to the decline in market prices of the produce. In addition, food is insufficiently cropped or substandard crops are discarded.
Our Approach
We will develop technology to guarantee storage until the market price meets the cost.
We will use genome editing technology to develop plant resources that are not commonly eaten into crops.
What is Orphan Crop ?
A crop that is important in a certain region but for which modern breeding and cultivation methods have not been established. The application of genome editing technology may shorten the breeding process and enable effective utilization.
We will develop a zero-waste meat by using crops that would have been discarded.
Food Printing
What is Food Printing ?
The printing of a three-dimensional food based on the data of a three-dimensional digital model created by a PC or other devices.
Main reasons of storing loss
Fresh foods have a short shelf life, so they spoil during transportation and are discarded.
Our Approach
We will develop technology to guarantee storage until the market price meets the cost.
If fresh food is damaged or spoiled during the processing process at the factory, it will not meet the sales standards and will be discarded.
Our Approach
We will develop a freeze-drying technology that uses a special method to remove moisture and other elements from fresh foods (e.g., shrimp, mango, etc.) during processing to prevent food deterioration. Furthermore, lighter freeze-dried foods can reduce transportation costs.
Freeze-drying technology by low food loss and waste
What is a freeze-drying technology ?
Based on the stabilization technology for biologic pharmaceutical proteins such as antibodies and vaccines, this new technology is suitable for food storage and transportation.
Main reasons of transporting loss
When food is transported by truck or ship, due to lack of fine control of temperature control, the quality of the food is compromised or spoiled, and it is discarded.
Our Approach
Metabolomics Profiling
Metabolomics profiling technology can be used to extend the shelf life of perishable foods that spoil during prolonged transport by ship, thereby reducing distribution losses. Furthermore, high-grade fresh foods that could previously only be transported by air due to food deterioration can now be eaten at a lower cost thanks to the realization of ship transport.
We are developing an automatic food data collection system that guarantees the authenticity and safety of food products by making the quality of food products in the distribution process completely “visible” with their history (traceability) from the place of raw material production to the place of processing. Those accumulated data will be useful for adjusting minute temperature control during transportation, preventing food deterioration.
Smart Data Logger System
What is Smart Data Logger System ?
A small system that periodically acquires and retains data and other information is called a data logger system. It is a more advanced and clever data logger system that provides functional sensing and ensures food safety and food security.
System of preventing food disguise
This technology is also useful in preventing food deception. For example, if strawberries grown in a foreign country are exported to Japan and harvested, they will be labeled as “Japanese strawberries,” which is a false representation of their place of origin. Monitoring these crops from the production area to the harvesting area will help prevent food deception.
Main reasons of transporting loss
Food loss and waste occurs mostly in developed countries, where food is discarded without being eaten due to over-buying and over-cooking. This consumer preference has a direct impact on producers and processors, who set expiration dates that are overly safety-conscious.
Our Approach
Human resource development for food loss and waste solution
Human resource development for food loss and waste solution
What is ” human resource development for food loss and waste solution” ?
This educational course covers a wide range of materials related to food sustainability, including food loss reduction, and is designed to provide participants with new insights.
Development of a social awareness system
Reducing food loss and waste at the consumer level by analyzing and providing feedback to anticipate the emergence of new problems related to food loss and maintaining the overall balance.
Food DX technology that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions
Our cutting-edge technology will be implemented in Indonesia
Why Indonesia ?
Indonesia is the largest producer of fruit in Southeast Asia (19 million tons), but much of it is discarded due to spoilage during the “storage, processing, and distribution stages. The total amount of food wasted, including fruit, is 44% or 48 million tons per year, which accounts for 3.7% of the world’s 1.3 billion tons of food loss.
We are focusing on Indonesia, which has the world’s second largest amount of food waste per capita and a population of 270 million, to implement these food DX technologies in society.
Another advantage of our technology is that we have the backing of the Indonesian government and university research institutions to implement our innovations in society.
PL Fukusaki /Heri Akhmadi, Ambassador of Indonesia
Implement in Society
It is the application and development of the research results obtained to solve problems in society.
Food evolution
We will make pioneering efforts to realize this vision on a global scale, and create a society in which all stakeholders (agricultural producers, storage distributors, retailers, and consumers) are happy, environmentally friendly, and connected across borders through the “food cycle”.
