Food waste is a huge, international problem. According to the Food Standards Agency, the UK alone throws away 7 million tonnes of food and drink each year - and a lot of this is still edible.

Many of these unspoiled foods are ingredients that have been classed as "waste products", but are still safe to eat. For example, edible by-products such as whey, or supermarket fruits and vegetables that have been considered too old to sell. These foods end up getting thrown away, but removing them from waste could relieve some of the pressure on landfills, and prevent the resources used to grow and harvest the foods in the first place from being wasted.

Attempting to tackle this problem, London-based company, Rubies in the Rubble, uses surplus fruits and vegtables to make relishes and other condiments, making use of food that would otherwise be thrown away. Similarly, ReGrained, a company based in San Fransisco, use spent beer grains to make granola bars.

However, a recent study found that the language used to describe food produced in this manner is especially important - ReGrained community manager, Cassidy Lundy, said: "We've run into problems with phrasing things like 'food waste' or something that's unwanted". Researchers at Drexel University tested nine different names for this type of food, in order to gauge consumer response; "Upcycled" was found to be the preferred name, followed by "reprocessed".

Rubies in the Rubble founder, Jenny Costa, said she started the company after reading about food waste one evening in 2010, when she "became passionate about the need to create change. The food system seemed woefully out of balance and I had to act."

Costa believes the best way to encourage people to eat sustainably is by simply making it taste good. "Our strategy is simply to make the best condiments in town and make sure people are won over by their flavour. Then, hopefully it's a bonus when they hear about the ingredients' origins."