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Fight to curb food waste increasingly turns to science

ReFed: 500,000 pounds of food could be diverted from landfills annually with better packaging
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Apples are washed at the BelleHarvest packing and storage facility, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 in Belding, Mich. BelleHarvest is the second largest packing and storage facility for apples in the state of Michigan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Hate mealy apples and soggy french fries? Science can help.

Restaurants, grocers, farmers and food companies are increasingly turning to chemistry and physics to tackle the problem of food waste.

Some are testing spray-on peels or chemically-enhanced sachets that can slow the ripening process in fruit. Others are developing digital sensors that can tell — more precisely than a label — when meat is safe to consume.

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