The potentially edible food which was wasted in 52 well-motivated households in and around London was collected and analysed. It contained 5 per cent of the food (and rather more of the fat) estimated to have been used during the week, although wide variations were found. Significant amounts of food were also given to animals and birds in some homes, but, when averaged over the whole sample, this only increased the wastage to 6 per cent. Wastage appeared to be related to household size with each person contributing, in effect, about 400 kJ (95 kcal) per day.