The 34 countries listed by the Economist Intelligence Unit make up 85% of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population.
The British industry analysts scored all of the nations out of 100 based on performances in three categories; food loss and waste, sustainable agriculture and nutritional challenges.
Britain was placed tenth with an overall score of 68.03 thanks to a score of 74.3% in food waste and loss, 64.08% in sustainability agriculture and 65.26% in nutritional challenges.
The country scored full marks on 'policy response to food loss' and on 'water management' while scoring highly on 'food loss', 'sustainability of water withdrawal' and 'micronutrient deficiency'.
Its lowest scores were in 'solutions to distribution-level loss', 'agriculture trade impact' and 'number of people per fast food restaurant'.
The UK’s overall position of tenth was five places down on last year when the UK was listed fifth, however its overall score this year was higher than 12 months ago (63.87%).
The overall mark achieved by Britain in 2017 would have been enough to put it top last year suggesting more has been done to address food sustainability worldwide.
France topped the poll with an overall rating of 74.79% thanks largely to an 84.89% scoring in the food loss and waste category.
Japan came second overall with Germany third. Spain and Sweden completed the top five.
The USA was ranked 21st on the table with an overall score of 61.45%. China placed 23rd with India 34th and the UAE last.
Ethiopia, the poorest country of all those analysed, came 12th with a score of 65.38% helped by a 75.07% rating in food waste and loss.
Italy was the highest scorer in sustainable agriculture with a rating of 72.96% while Japan led the way in nutritional challenges (72.99%).