Cook Nathan, Habel Joanna, McCray Sally, Utter Jennifer, Brennan Kaitlin
Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Robina, Queensland, Australia.
Dietetics and Foodservices, Mater Health, South Brisbane, Australia.
Nutr Diet. 2025 Sep;82(4):434-444. doi: 10.1111/1747-0080.70013. Epub 2025 Apr 3.
To quantify, describe, and compare production waste and food packaging waste in two healthcare centres with different foodservice models.
In this observational study, all food wasted during production and all food packaging was measured by weight and cost over a 7-day period for two hospitals: Hospital A (800 beds, cook-on demand fresh, a la carte menu room service model) and Hospital B (60 beds, traditional cook chill retherm model with weekly cyclical menu and set meal times). Comparisons between sites were made per patient overnight bed day, as an indicator of hospital activity. The average daily waste was calculated, and costed by multiplying cost (AU$) food item/ kilogram by measured weight; to derive the cost of food waste per kilogram. Food waste by weight and cost per overnight bed day was used as a measure to compare the hospitals.
Over 7 days, Hospital A wasted 916.4 kg (AU$6937.22) and Hospital B wasted 69.7 kg (AU$417.10) of food. Most food wasted at both hospitals was edible (78.6% Hospital A and 93.5% Hospital B) and trayline contributed more food waste than bulk production. At both hospitals, plant-based foods comprised the greatest proportion of edible food waste by weight, but not by cost. When accounting for hospital activity, food waste was lower at Hospital A than at Hospital B (0.15 kg of food per overnight bed day and 0.30 kg, respectively). Hospital A generated 199.5 kg (0.03 kg per overnight bed day) of packaging waste compared to 32.2 kg (0.14 kg per overnight bed day) at Hospital B.
Findings suggest that food waste is costly, that food waste differs between hospitals with different foodservice models, and that overnight bed days is a useful metric for making comparisons. A cook-fresh, on-demand room service foodservice model resulted in less food and packaging waste.
对采用不同餐饮服务模式的两家医疗中心的生产废弃物和食品包装废弃物进行量化、描述及比较。
在这项观察性研究中，对两家医院在7天内生产过程中浪费的所有食物以及所有食品包装进行了重量和成本测量：医院A（800张床位，按需烹饪新鲜食物，单点菜单客房服务模式）和医院B（60张床位，传统的烹饪冷藏再加热模式，每周循环菜单且用餐时间固定）。以每位患者过夜床位日作为医院活动指标，对两个地点的情况进行比较。计算平均每日废弃物量，并通过将食品项目成本（澳元）/千克乘以测量重量得出成本；以计算每千克食物废弃物的成本。按过夜床位日计算的食物废弃物重量和成本用作比较两家医院的指标。
在7天内，医院A浪费了916.4千克（6937.22澳元）食物，医院B浪费了69.7千克（417.10澳元）食物。两家医院浪费的大多数食物都是可食用的（医院A为78.6%，医院B为93.5%），且流水线供餐产生的食物废弃物比批量生产更多。在两家医院，按重量计算，植物性食物在可食用食物废弃物中占比最大，但按成本计算并非如此。考虑到医院活动情况，医院A的食物废弃物比医院B少（分别为每过夜床位日0.15千克食物和0.30千克）。医院A产生了199.5千克（每过夜床位日0.03千克）包装废弃物，而医院B为32.2千克（每过夜床位日0.14千克）。
研究结果表明，食物废弃物成本高昂，不同餐饮服务模式的医院之间食物废弃物情况存在差异，过夜床位日是进行比较的有用指标。新鲜烹饪、按需提供的客房服务餐饮模式产生的食物和包装废弃物更少。
