A third of the food doesn't make it. And what does, sometimes makes people sick.
Close to a third of the food the world produces is lost or wasted. 13.3% is lost between post-harvest and point of sale according to FAO, and 19% of the food available to consumers is wasted afterward according to UNEP. Microbiological spoilage is a direct cause of that loss in perishable products, and pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes add a different kind of cost: in the United States, a single listeriosis case costs 2.5 million dollars.
SECTION 1. HOW MUCH FOOD IS LOST, AND WHERE?
Every year, close to a third of all the food the world produces is lost or wasted. It's the figure that gets repeated most and broken down least, so it's worth separating.
According to FAO's SDG indicator 12.3.1, 13.3% of food was lost in 2023 between post-harvest and point of sale, with no significant change since 2015. That's the loss that happens within the chain, before food reaches a shelf.
According to UNEP's Food Waste Index Report 2024, an additional 19% of the food available to consumers was wasted: 1.05 billion tonnes in 2022, equivalent to a billion meals a day.
Up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food loss and waste, according to the same source. And all this happens while close to 783 million people face hunger.
Table: where loss concentrates
| Category | Supply-chain loss |
|---|---|
| Fruits and vegetables | 25.4% |
| Meat and animal-source products | 14.0% |
| Roots, tubers and oilseeds | 12.3% |
| Cereals and legumes | 8.4% |
Source: FAO, SDG indicator 12.3.1, 2023.
The pattern is clear: what spoils fastest is lost the most. And in perishable products, microbiological deterioration isn't one factor among several — it's the cause that defines the end of commercial shelf life.
That's the point. Every extra day of shelf life isn't a convenience improvement. It's product that gets sold instead of discarded, a wider distribution radius, and fewer emissions per kilo actually consumed.
SECTION 2. WHY DOES LISTERIA ESCAPE PROCESSES THAT ARE UNDER CONTROL?
Foodborne pathogens operate under a different logic than spoilage. They don't change smell, color or texture. Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes looks, smells and tastes perfectly fine.
Listeria in numbers
- In the United States, invasive listeriosis causes about 1,250 illnesses a year, but 1,070 hospitalizations and 172 deaths. Almost every confirmed case ends up hospitalized. CDC estimates, 2019.
- The estimated cost of a single case is 2,504,296 dollars, versus 16,668 for a salmonellosis case and 7,238 for an E. coli O157 case. A listeriosis case costs 150 times more than a salmonellosis case. USDA ERS, 2023.
- Foodborne illness costs the United States 74.7 billion dollars a year. USDA ERS, 2023.
- It affects pregnant women, newborns, older adults and immunocompromised people with particular severity.
Why it escapes
- It grows under refrigeration. Cold slows down almost all the flora that would compete with it. Not Listeria.
- It lives in the plant. It forms biofilms in drains, belts, slicers and cooling equipment, and persists there.
- It enters after the lethal step. The risk is recontamination after the process, in products the consumer won't cook again.
In Chile, this isn't theoretical. There are documented outbreaks linked to soft cheeses and cold cuts, and food alerts for Listeria in ready-to-eat products are issued regularly. The most recent, in August 2026, was for a batch of queso mantecoso recalled from the market.
SECTION 3. WHY ARE SYNTHETIC PRESERVATIVES REACHING THEIR LIMIT?
Facing this problem, the industry works with a chemical arsenal that's starting to hit limits on three separate fronts.
Regulatory limit. EU Regulation 2023/2108 reduced the maximum authorized levels of nitrites and nitrates as food additives in meat, fish and cheese products. The direction of regulatory movement is one-way.
Consumer limit. Demand for clean labels stopped being a niche. A synthetic preservative on the ingredient list is now a commercial cost, not just a production cost.
Technical limit, the least discussed. Much of the commonly used barriers are fundamentally inhibitory: they slow microbial growth but don't reduce the initial load present on the product. They work as long as conditions hold. Facing an in-line recontamination or a cold-chain break, there's no margin, because there was never a reduction — only a delay.
Our working hypothesis is that the industry needs naturally derived barriers with real bactericidal action on the surface of food, capable of lowering the present load and not just postponing its growth. That's what we're building.
FAQ
How much food is lost in the world each year?
Close to a third of the total produced. According to FAO, 13.3% was lost in 2023 between post-harvest and point of sale. According to UNEP, an additional 1.05 billion tonnes were wasted in retail, food service and households in 2022, equivalent to 19% of the food available to consumers.
Why does Listeria monocytogenes grow under refrigeration?
Because it's psychrotrophic: it multiplies at temperatures close to 0 °C, though more slowly. The cold chain slows down most of the flora that would compete with it, so refrigeration ends up favoring it instead of containing it.
How much does a listeriosis case cost?
USDA ERS estimated the cost of a case at 2,504,296 dollars for 2023, the highest of all foodborne pathogens analyzed. The figure reflects the severity of the illness, which almost always requires hospitalization, not its frequency.
What did EU Regulation 2023/2108 change?
It reduced the maximum authorized levels of nitrites and nitrates as food additives in meat, fish and cheese products in the European Union, with transition periods for the industry.
What's the difference between food loss and food waste?
Loss happens in the supply chain, from post-harvest to point of sale, and is measured by FAO. Waste happens in retail, food service and households, and is measured by UNEP. They're two different indicators and shouldn't be added without noting that.