The provisional results of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) research on global food losses and waste are now available. They prove that given the fact that resources are becoming more and more scarce around the world, it is more effective to reduce food losses than to increase food production. Therefore, alternative packaging solutions have a key function to play in preventing food losses. These are the results obtained by international research teams (Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology/University of the Philippines) in two recent studies commissioned by the FAO. The studies are part of SAVE FOOD, a joint initiative of the FAO and Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. The researchers investigated the extent and reasons for food losses in various regions of the world and these throw light on the role that packaging can play in avoiding such losses. The aim behind these studies was to gain further knowledge in achieving resource-conserving global food security. According to the FAO, Western consumers also play a key role. As Robert van Otterdijk, FAO Officer for SAVE FOOD explains, “Food commodities are traded at an international market, and waste in one part of the world affects prices in other parts of the world. When food is thrown away in rich countries this affects the availability of food in poor countries.”