Abstract

MONTEIRO, Ana. Food Waste - Hospital Pêro da Covilhã Reality. Nutrícias [online]. 2014, n.20, pp.16-19. ISSN 2182-7230.

Introduction: Food waste can result in high economic cost to institutions and it can be inversely related to the consumer acceptability. Objectives: To characterize food waste of Centro Hospitalar Cova da Beira - Hospital Pêro da Covilhã inpatients. Population and Methodology: Database on food waste was collected from a total of 182 inpatients, of which 160 received a questionnaire to assess the causes of not eating a full meal. The leftovers and food components per meal were calculated, as well as the cost of the waste. It was calculated the leftovers per meal and food components as well as the cost of waste. Results: The leftovers were high for all meals, being higher in mid-morning and evening snacks. The main reasons for the low intake were of clinical origin, mainly the lack of appetite. Due to the food waste, there was an average associated daily cost of 2.80€ by inpatient. Conclusions: Given the meals and their most wasteful generating components, it will be important to implement measures to improve food intake of hospitalized patients, meeting their preferences and habits.

Keywords : Food waste; Leftovers; Cost.

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