Consumer-Level Food Loss Estimates and Their Use in the Economic Research Service (ERS) Loss-Adjusted Food Availability Data (FAD)

The FAD System developed by the ERS tracks annual food and nutrient availability for many commodities. The FAD series in this system overstates actual consumption, so ERS has included an additional series, the Loss-Adjusted Food Availability (LAFA) data, to adjust the FAD for non-edible food parts and food losses, including losses from farm to retail, at retail, and at the consumer level. This report proposes new consumer-level loss estimates for "cooking loss and uneaten food" to replace those currently used in the LAFA data and proposes their adoption for the entire data span. The proposed loss percentages are calculated by subtracting food consumption estimates from food purchase or availability estimates for each food. A print on demand report.