Completely agree that this is nonsense. (Still nowhere near nonsense-y enough to welcome a Conservative government, but I’ll take that as hyperbole. 😀 )

The dole for a single person is under £60 (I think. Mercifully, it’s been a while since I knew the amount to the penny) I would think that probably leaves barely a tenner a week for food (after heating and lighting and water, which must add up to about £50 a week in the winter.) I think it’s a fair bet no one on the dole is paying their fare to a shop (say another £3) and then spending the remaining £8 on food they take straight to the trashcan.

£8 is above the minimum hourly wage. Say, two hours work after tax at minumum wage. How many minimum wage workers are putting in a twentieth of their working week to buy food to throw away.

So the whole proces sof buying food to toss it away doesn’t make sense for normally-incomed people.

This suggests, then, that the rich may be buying food for purely decorative purposes, to see if it looks nice against the kitchen decor.
Or just so they can do some conspicuous non-consumption to impress the neighbours with discarded caviar and truffles, left artlessly at the side of their bins.

(I must admit here that I have been guilty of buying food for decorative reasons. Those fractal broccoli (romanesco) or that fantastic Chinese fruit that looks like a pink shaded flower. But , in my defence, I do always eat the things. )

Maybe the numbers come from people buying vile “food” – like Pot Noodles – then deciding that only a lunatic would eat it and tossing it out. Then forgetting and buying more. then doing it again. and again. Every day.

Forced to conclude it’s another made-up statistic, then.
.