A Survey of the Nutrients and a Price Comparison of Korean Style Full Course Meals: Based on Korean Restaurants in Changwon City and in Luxurious Hotels in Seoul

Pyun, Jeong Soon; Kim, Tae Hee; Park, Hae Won; Lee, Kyung Hea

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to conduct preliminary research to investigate full course meals in Korean style restaurants in order: i) to analyze the nutrient contents of full course meals per servings, and ii) by analyzing the above, to examine the amount and the quality of the foods served in the full course meals by two different types of Korean style restaurants. A total of 27 restaurants participated in this study, 7 restaurants from the luxurious hotels in Seoul and 20 restaurants from the City of Changwon. A key finding was that restaurant patrons tended to overconsume nutrients as compared to the Korean Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), and restaurants generated large amounts of food wastes due to the excess food served. Other findings were as follows: 1) Compared with 1/3 or the Korean RDA, all the nutrients were oversupplied. The average nutrient ratios were about 3.7 times higher than 113 of the Korean RDA in calories, about 9 times higher in proteins, 10 times higher in phosphorus, 7 times higher in Vitamin Bl, and 12 times higher in Vitamin E. 2) Seventy-five percent (n = 20) of the restaurants served within the range of thirty to forty dishes, whereas most of the hotel restaurants (70%) served twenty dishes or fewer. 3) The average carbohydrate: protein: fat (CPF) ratio of caloric nutrients was 40:26:34. This study concluded that: i) Korean style full course meals provide too much food, nutrients, and calories, resulting in an over- or unbalanced nutrient intake, and ii) the Korean style full course meals consisted of a high-protein, high-fat and high-caloric intake, which is similar to a westernized caloric nutrient pattern. Such over -or unbalanced nutrient intake could cause chronic degenerative problems such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. These findings indicate that restaurants serving Korean style full course meals should carefully plan their menus in order to provide their customers with balanced meals. They should also be strongly encouraged to play an active role in improving their customers' nutritional status, as well as reducing the restaurants wastage of food. Lastly, further research should be conducted to improve the quality of the menus in Korean restaurants.