Plate waste in a hospital cook-freeze production system

This survey of food waste in a Midwestern university hospital provides resource data for evaluation of a cook-freeze production system with a restaurant-type menu featuring pre-plated combinations of an entrée and/or starch/vegetable. Data were collected over a 4-week period and included one breakfast, lunch, and dinner from each of 20 nursing units for a total of 611 trays. Mean percentage waste of all food served was 21.3%, with little variation between meals or between modified and non-modified diets. Mean waste for pre-plates was 25.5%, with considerable variation in waste of components (entrée, 17.6%; starch, 27.7%; vegetable, 40.7%). Frequency distribution of waste showed that a large proportion of the patients wasted little or no food and only a small proportion wasted most or all of the food served. No significant difference in waste could be attributed to pre-plate combinations.