How you’re more likely to clear your plate at home

IT’s a good reason to rustle up food at home rather than grabbing something on the go.

Diners who eat a meal where they can choose their portion size are far more likely to clear their plate, leaving just 3 per cent behind. Eating out, on the other hand, can see almost 40 per cent of a meal end up in the bin when people cannot control how much they are served.

The average person in Britain wastes just over 13 stone (84kg) of food every year.

During a Us study, people choosing their own portions, whether eating at home or out, left behind approximately 5.6g of food (3.3 per cent of the meal on average). But when given prepackaged food, in a set portion size similar to ‘meal deal’ options from sandwich shops, participants left more than 200g, with women leaving more than men.

The study, published in the journal PLOs One, involved 50 people aged 18 to 65 who monitored their food intake and waste over about a week.

Professor Brian Roe, the lead author from Ohio state University, said: ‘It suggests that when people are choosing their own food, there’s not a lot left on their plate. Better meal planning is a good place to start.’