Assessment of Factors Affecting Plate Waste and Its Effects in Normal & Soft Diets Provided from Hospital Foodservice

Yang, Il Sun; Kim, Jung Lye; Seoul, Hae Young

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to : (a) analyze the portion size & plate waste of normal & soft diets provided by dietetic departments in hospital, (b) investigate the factors affecting plate waste, and (c) determine the nutritional & monetary value of plate waste. A questionnaire for food preference and sensory evaluation was developed and a survey was carried out for the 46 normal diet and 56 soft diet patients in Sanggye Paik hospital in Seoul. Serving size and plate waste were weighed by the electric scale, and CAN-Pro program was used to evaluate the nutrition value. The data were analyzed using the SAS package program for descriptive analysis, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. The average plate waste rate for normal diet and soft diet were 30.3% and 49.6%. More plate waste amount occurred on female patients' diet than male patients' diets regardless of the kind of diet. The plate waste percentage of male patients were higher than those of female on normal diet. On soft diet, patients who hospitalized in surgery or pediatrics department were higher than in other wards. Plate waste of normal diet and amount were correlated positively, but wastage and preference were correlated negatively Negative correlation was between taste and plate waste, and between temperature and plate waste, too. On the other hand, plate waste caused the deficiency of some nutrients such as Ca, Fe, Vit. B2 and a great monetary loss.