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    Half Tones

    Alibaba-Backed Supermarket Responds to Food Waste Claims

    Sep 05, 2019

    After being accused of wasting large amounts of food, a supermarket chain owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba said that it can’t donate unsold items because of health concerns.

    In a statement Wednesday, Hema Xiansheng explained its policy to “discard” perishable items such as vegetables in order to avoid food safety issues. The company added that, to minimize food waste, it tries not to overstock its stores and offers discounts on products as they near their expiration dates.

    The response comes after a Sept. 1 post on microblogging platform Weibo about Hema employees in Shanghai discarding food items after business hours went viral this week. Many online have criticized Hema for wasting the food rather than donating it to charities or people in need.

    According to a study released last year, Chinese consumers wasted between 17 and 18 million tons of food in 2015 — or enough to feed 30–50 million people for the entire year. (Image: @木木木木要远行 on Weibo)