U.S. set to destroy 500 tonnes of taxpayer-funded emergency food

The United States is set to destroy nearly 500 metric tons of U.S.-taxpayer-funded emergency food meant for starving people around the world, CNN reported on Wednesday. 

A State Department spokesperson confirmed that emergency food will be destroyed because they were unable to use it before its expiration.

A spokesperson for the State Department, which is now responsible for U.S. foreign aid, confirmed in an email to Reuters that the biscuits would have to be destroyed. But they said the stocks were "purchased as a contingency beyond projections" under the administration of former President Joe Biden, resulting in their expiration.

The former official told CNN that the destruction of the critically needed food would not have happened prior to the Trump administration's destruction of the USAID.

Before the administration dismantled USAID, citing alleged waste and fraud, personnel would have kept track of the expiration dates of the food aid. As the dates approached, they would have contacted colleagues to see who needed it, the former official explained, or it could have been donated.

'Definition of waste'

The high-energy, nutrient-dense biscuits have been sitting for months in a warehouse in Dubai, CNN reported, citing a former USAID official, who asked to be anonymous.

The wasted biscuits will be turned into landfill or incinerated in the United Arab Emirates, two sources told Reuters. That will cost the U.S. government an additional $100,000, Reuters reported, citing the May 5 memo verified by sources familiar with the matter.

"This is the definition of waste," the former official told CNN.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) said those biscuits are typically deployed in crisis conditions where people lack cooking facilities, "providing immediate nutrition for a child or adult."

The supplies slated for destruction could have fed around 27,000 people for a month, according to a Reuters analysis using figures from WFP. Those stocks were originally intended for USAID partners in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The food could have been sent to places that desperately needed it, like Gaza. Two rations of biscuits a day is enough to stop people from dying, the former USAID official told CNN.

The delays and waste are further examples of how the freeze and then cutbacks, which led to the firing of thousands of USAID employees and contractors, have thrown global humanitarian operations into chaos.

Trump has said the U.S. pays disproportionately for foreign aid, and he wants other countries to shoulder more of the burden.

His administration announced plans to shut down USAID in January, leaving more than 60,000 tonnes of food aid stuck in stores around the world, Reuters reported in May.

Alexandra Rutishauser-Perera, the director of nutrition at Action Against Hunger UK, said: "We knew the suspension of USAID funding would have immediate consequences, and the destruction of emergency food, at a time when acute hunger is at its highest on record, underscores the unintended consequences of such funding cuts."

(With input from agencies)