Through a literature search and personal inquiries within and outside the project consortium, 64 sources contributing FLW data were identified. Data were only included if they were collected using a method eligible for the European Union (EU) food waste (FW) reporting by member states (MS). The database contains data on 12 food groups and 53 food items (products) with varying degrees of specification and processing. The largest share (32%) of FLW data from 13 European countries comprises quantities lost in primary production. Regarding the food groups, the largest share (22%) was data on quantities lost from vegetables. According to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), the database is published open access on the online repository Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17067509) including a description of its content. A definitional framework based on previous published work for the food groups ‘fruit and vegetables’, ‘cereals’, ‘dairy’, ‘meat’ and ‘fish’ is used as a conceptual foundation to categorise and, if necessary and possible, recalculate the FLW quantities. The database contained several categories to structure the information of the studies. The categories are on the food group and food item classification, on the geographic and temporal scope, classifications of the corresponding food supply chain stage, the FLW quantities as well as the variance and ways of disposal or utilisation, methodological information, and lastly, the source.
