Patient Evaluation of Food Waste in Three Hospitals in Southern Italy

Abstract

In recent years, food waste has received great attention and is now considered the cause of many negative effects, including health, economic, social and environmental issues. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 762 inpatients at three hospitals of Campania region in Italy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the amount of food waste occurring in these hospitals using a structured questionnaire and asking inpatients about the average percentage of food they had disposed of in the previous three days. The overall food wasted amounted to 41.6%. The main plates, first (pasta or rice), second plate (meat or fish), resulted in similar amounts of waste (38.5% and 39.7%, respectively). The side plate (vegetable or potatoes), however, generated the greatest amount of waste (55.0%); 40.7% of patients totally discarded this part of their meals. The type of food wastage among the three hospitals reflected similar patient behaviours, with the amount of food wasted never falling below 30%. Females tended to waste more food than males (59.1% vs. 38.2%; p = 0.000). Other variables were correlated with less food waste, such as having a good opinion of the food’s quality (RR = 1.91; 95% C.I. = 1.68–2.17) and satisfaction with the foodservice in general (RR = 1.86; 95% C.I. = 1.64–2.10). Poor quality, different eating habits and the feeling of satiety were the main reasons patients gave for food waste. Our study suggests that the most promising way to reduce food waste in hospitals is to improve the quality of meals and to establish an individual, simplified and flexible meal reservation process based on specific needs and preferences.

Nutritional Orthopedics and Space Nutrition as Two Sides of the Same Coin: A Scoping Review

“…Ready-to-use flavor enhancers may be used to improve intakes [ 61 ], possibly reducing plate waste. Food surplus may also be associated with other causes nevertheless, such as poor meal quality and early satiety [ 62 ]. Overall, the collaboration among the foodservice, the clinical nutrition unit, and the research laboratory is certainly fundamental in order to guarantee a real benefit to hospitalized patients [ 63 ].…”

“…Summary II. A total of 33 references ([ 7 , 10 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 27 , 45 , 46 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 73 , 76 , 77 , 79 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ]) were used to scope the following nutritional commonalities between post-operative (hospital-based) vs. space station (planetary) issues. The use of single-serving prepackaged meals; the need to establish demand-driven systems that crosstalk and reduce food waste; the importance of guaranteeing food safety and human engagement throughout the process; the need to support the musculoskeletal health; the interest in some nutrients (i.e., proteins, calcium, iron, vitamin D); the need for boosting food flavors to increase appetite, palatability, hedonic appreciation, and food intake.…”

“… Musculoskeletal health [ 59 , 60 , 61 ] Aging, hedonism, taste dysfunction, intake, and flavor enhancers. Flavor/pleasure issues [ 62 ] Facilitators of food waste, patient’s engagement, and food quality. Meal quality Reduced food intake Food waste Hospital hazards [ 90 , 91 ] Multifaceted aspects of geriatric syndrome.…”

“… [ 61 ] Mathey, 2001 J Geron A Biol Sci Med Sci, Human study Older adults/Dietary intake and body weight in institutionalized older adults may be improved by adding flavor boosters to foods. [ 62 ] Schiavone, 2019 Int J Envir Res Pub Health, Human study Hospitalized patients/Quality improvement of meal reservation, accounting specific preferences, is promising for plate waste reduction. [ 63 ] Bell, 2014 Clin Nutr, Human study Orthopedic patients/Multimodal nutritional support plus foodservice enhancement increase food intakes and improve outcomes.…”

Evaluation of Food Waste at a Portuguese Geriatric Institution

“…), loss of appetite and decreased sensory abilities, among other physiological processes which may result from pathological situations [9,10]. Several other causes have been described related to institutionalization itself, the loss of family or a spouse, isolation and social marginalization, reduction of purchasing power [10][11][12], entrenched eating habits, preferences [3,12,13] and the lack of quality of the food service [3,14,15].…”