A MasterChef Australia 2022 star has dished up what really happens to all of the leftover food once the challenges are over.
Now, you’d be lying if you said you haven’t wondered how the MasterChef judges manage to eat every dish made in each episode.
However, according to Yahoo! Lifestyle, after an initial taste test at the benches, the professional foodies will hand-select a number of dishes to try in their entirety.
But what happens to the meals that don’t make the cut?
Returning “favourite” John Carasig revealed that the leftover dishes go in the bin and RIP to all those croquembouches that the contestants slave over during the competition.
“I think they just get chucked out,” he told the outlet. “Which is a shame, because I would rather have that for lunch than the lunch that we were getting in the green room.”
“We’re not actually allowed to touch anyone’s food.” Ummmm, sounds like a crime if you ask us!
What Happens to the Leftover Food In the MasterChef Pantry
Unlike the contestants’ meals, the perishable food from MasterChef‘s yuge pantry is donated to a worthy cause.
According to 10Play, the production has an arrangement with SecondBite, a not-for-profit food rescue organisation that helps end food waste and food insecurity in Australia.
“The MasterChef pantry is replenished on an almost daily basis while the program is shooting and we collect daily from the MasterChef studios,” SecondBite’s CEO, Jim Mullan, said in 2019.
According to Jim, “everything [they] can possibly salvage” from the pantry is “diverted” to people in need, especially in the “Melbourne area”.
This includes Salvation Army, Vinnies, soup kitchens and mission services.
MasterChef Australia Judge Jock Zonfrillo Weighs In On Food Wastage
Judge Jock Zonfrillo elaborated on the show’s food wastage in an interview with news.com.au in 2021.
“It’s crazy when you look at the amount of food that comes into the warehouse and how little is wrong with it,” he told the publication.
He also revealed that they have a “crew pantry” process in place.
“The crew nominate a charity to give to and put a donation into the jar then they take whatever they want from the crew pantry.”
Whatever is leftover then falls into the hands of SecondBite.
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