PD456 - DIFFERENCES IN FOOD WASTE BETWEEN LUNCH AND DINNER IN A PUBLIC HOSPITAL FOOD SERVICE SYSTEM

PD456

DIFFERENCES IN FOOD WASTE BETWEEN LUNCH AND DINNER IN A PUBLIC HOSPITAL FOOD SERVICE SYSTEM

M. Chatzipavlou^1,2, D. Karayiannis¹, A. Gkeli², A. Zampelas^2,3, P. Skandamis², K.-A. Poulia^2,*

¹Department of Clinical Nutrition, “Evangelismos” General Hospital of Athens, ²Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece, ³Department of Life Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

Rationale: Hospital food waste is a recognised nutritional, operational and environmental problem. The aim of the study was to examine differences in food production and waste in a public hospital in Greece.

Methods: Data on food waste was recorded for 184 meals (89 lunches and 95 dinners) from June 2022 until July in 2022. For each meal, the amount of food prepared, the unserved quantity and plate waste were recorded; total waste per patient was also estimated. Normality was examined with Shapiro-Wilk, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare lunch versus dinner for continuous variables. One way ANOVA analysis was applied to evaluate the differences between meals and clinics.

Results: Overall, 48.8% of prepared food was wasted (Dinner waste: 59.66% vs Lunch waste: 40,33%). Total plate waste per patient was 1.98κg at lunch and 2.49kg at dinner. More patients were served at lunch (p = 0.008). Dinner generated significantly greater total waste (p < 0.001) and more pre-service food waste (p < 0.001). Both the amount of food produced (p = 0.001) and waste per patient (p < 0.001) were significantly higher at dinner. Plate waste did not differ significantly between lunch and dinner (p = 0.079)

Conclusion: Dinner appears to be a critical driver of food waste in hospitals, mainly due to larger quantities of food prepared and of pre-service food waste. Optimizing demand forecasting, menus planning and portion sizes with patients' medical needs and preferences may reduce food waste and enhance the sustainability of hospital nutrition practices.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared