Google and Sainsbury's are the food rescuers
An increase in Google searches looking for advice on using leftover food has inspired a partnership between the search engine and British supermarket Sainsbury's. Suggestions are provided for leftovers from cooked meals as well as surplus ingredients.
Discounts and special offers such as two-fers, BOGOs and bulk buys often leave consumers wondering what to do with excess food. Sometimes figuring out how to combine a random assortment of remnants can be overwhelming.
Visitors using either a computer or mobile device to access www.sainsburysfoodrescue.co.uk will find more than 1,200 recipes for anything from simple snacks to "showstopping" suppers. Users can type or use speech to enter up to nine ingredients to get recipes, often contributed by Love Food Hate Waste, a non-profit organisation raising awareness of the need to reduce food waste "by offering easy, practical, everyday suggestions."
Love Food Hate Waste is part of WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk), which encourages recycling in the UK as well as helping create a market for recycled materials and developing government strategies.
![[Image: Food Rescue]](/public/images/discussions/17585/food-rescue-still.jpg)
Sainsbury's Food Rescue is powered by Google. Indy Saha, director of creative strategy at Google said, "More people in Britain are online than ever before and this growth is driven by tablets and smartphones. ... Using our voice search technology, the Food Rescue tool allows Sainsbury's customers to use up the food that they might otherwise throw away."
Google's data showed an increase in leftover recipe searches of more than a third over the past year, with 64 per cent done using mobile devices, according to energylivenews.com. In response, Sainsbury's has launched the app in an effort to reduce avoidable waste and consumer expense.
Marketing director, Sarah Warby, said in a statement, "Shopping habits have really changed. Families are savvier than ever, looking for practical help to make the most of the food in their cupboards and fridges. ... We know that confidence and knowhow can really help people reduce the amount of food they throw away."
According to Energylivenews, the app displays details of how much the saved food weighs and how much money each recipe saves, including which regions are "rescuing" the most food.