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Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign promotes food waste reduction at source in food and beverage industry (with photos)
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     To encourage the food and beverage industry to reduce food waste at source, a briefing session for the food and beverage industry was held today (October 22) under the Food Wise Hong Kong (FWHK) Campaign in order to boost industry support for signing the Food Wise Charter as a pledge for adopting good practices in food premises to reduce food waste.

     The Acting Secretary for the Environment, Ms Christine Loh, said during the briefing session that the FWHK Campaign was launched in May this year to encourage the entire community, including the commercial and industrial sectors, individuals and households, to avoid and reduce food waste generation. The support and participation of the food and beverage industry is essential in achieving food waste reduction at source.

     About 100 representatives from the food and beverage industry attended the briefing session at Central Government Offices. During the briefing, representatives of signees of the Food Wise Charter shared their insights and results in adopting good practices to reduce food waste at food premises. Other representatives from the industry also discussed their experience in food waste management.

     The Food Wise Charter aims to encourage organisations to promote best practices and behavioural changes to reduce food waste. Participating organisations are committed to drawing up plans to promote the awareness and acceptance of food waste reduction best practices among stakeholders; implementing plans with measurable targets to reduce food waste in organisations and business settings; promoting and adopting recipes that make use of food trimmings; and supporting food donation activities whenever possible. More than 300 organisations have signed the Food Wise Charter to establish a green food culture and contribute to the FWHK Campaign.

     Representatives from the food and beverage industry are also welcome to participate in the FWHK Ambassador Scheme. The Ambassadors will be provided with food waste reduction workshop training in order to put into practice green measures in food premises and spread the FWHK message. Since the scheme has been rolled out, six workshops have been held and around 450 FWHK Ambassadors have received training.

     Ms Loh said the FWHK Campaign has been well received by the public and added that Big Waster, a character in the campaign who symbolises food wastage, has become well known. In order to further encourage public support and raise awareness of the campaign, a large-scale event will be held in December this year to review the work of the FWHK Steering Committee after its establishment for one year. The campaign will continue to raise public awareness of food waste reduction through various promotional and educational activities with a view to encouraging behavioural changes across all sectors.

Ends/Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:02

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