Given that about 40% of the total food produced globally is lost or wasted, there is an urgent need to understand what, where, why and how much food waste is generated. In this study, we collected the much-needed primary empirical data from the restaurants, hotels and caterers of Lahore, Pakistan through surveys and live tracking/diaries. Specifically, two key performance indicators, waste per customer (g) and percentage waste per day (%), were measured. Waste per customer was found to be 79.9 g (survey) and 73.4 g (live tracking) for restaurants, 138.4 g for hotels and 140.0 g for caterers. Similarly, the percentage of waste per day (%) was found to be 15% (survey) and 17% (live tracking) for restaurants. Results revealed that customer plate leftovers were reported to be the primary source of food waste, followed by inaccurate customer forecasting. Given the food waste levels identified in this study, the development and adoption of a national goal and target aimed at food waste reduction could usefully guide the efforts of all stakeholders. To achieve this, we need to build the capacity of all the relevant stakeholders on food loss and waste measurements and ensure national food waste reporting.

Dioscorea bulbifera is one of the under-utilized tubers in Nigeria both for food and medical purposes. Microbial changes during the fermentation of aerial potato after being subjected to different treatment were monitored using standard methods, the changes in microbial load and type of microorganisms was reported. It was observed that unpeeled backslopping fermented samples had the highest total viable bacterial count (7.06±0.05 x 105 cfu/g), lactic acid bacterial count (67.74±1.17 x 107 cfu/g) and fungal count (0.81±0.16 x 106 sfu/g), while total viable bacterial, LAB and fungal in peeled samples were 30.40±2.00 x 1010 cfu/g, 298.17±2.36 x 107 cfu/g and 133.30±0.15 x 106 sfu/g at 120 hour of fermentation respectively. Some of the bacteria isolated include Shigella flexneri, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactococcus lactis, while the fungal isolates were Fusarium oxysporum, Geomyces pannorum, Geotrichum candidum, Penicillium brevicompactum, Penicillium corylophilum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida tropicalis and others species. The treatment methods employed had a significant effects on the microbial load of fermented aerial potato. The fermentation methods employed have significant effects on the microbial load and type of microorganisms in the fermented aerial potato. Fermentation can be used as a food processing method to eliminate unwanted microorganisms in fermented food, which will enhance the food shelf life.