Each resident of Croatia threw away an average of 71 kilos of food last year, the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food (HAPIH) said in a statement on Monday.

“More than half of the food waste is generated by households and as much as 10 per cent is due to the lack of understanding of sell-by date labeling. That’s why it is necessary to raise awareness of our consumers on an ongoing basis,” HAPIH director Darja Sokolic said ahead of the launch of the “EU Choose Safe Food” campaign, which HAPIH is conducting together with the European Food Safety Authority.

More than a third of households (39 per cent) never or seldom use leftovers for the preparation of a new meal, and the most common reason for food waste is buying and preparing too much food.

Sokolic said that Croatians were more interested in issues relating to food safety than the EU average, partly due to the high level of transparency and withdrawal of defective products from the market.

Nine food-related epidemics were recorded in Croatia last year, as a result of which 102 people fell ill, mostly with salmonella poisoning, the statement said.

In the EU, 88 million tonnes of food, worth around €143 billion, is wasted annually. That’s why the “EU Choose Safe Food” campaign is being conducted in nine member states – Austria, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Finland, Greece and Cyprus.