Evaluation of Hospital Food Waste—A Case Study in Portugal

Abstract

Food waste (FW) has been linked with nutrient intake, menu performance, food acceptability, costs and environmental impacts. This study aims to evaluate the FW in the wards of a Portuguese public hospital. The evaluation of the FW of lunch meals was performed during 21 days, to all new hospitalized patients (n = 105) admitted in four hospital wards (Medicine (Med), Paediatrics (Ped), Oncology (Onc) and Orthopaedics (Ort)). For each patient, the type of diet and FW were evaluated during the length of hospital stay (covering 321 meals). The FW of the dish was calculated by the physical method by weighing and the soup by the method of visual estimation, evaluating before and after distribution. The patients have a mean 3.1 ± 2.2 day length of hospital stay. In relation to the FW of the dish per ward, that in the Ped ward it was 72.6%, Med 47.5%, Onc 46.9% and Ort 58.4% (ρ = 0.027). The FW for Ped soup was 67.1%, Med 30.9%, Onc 29.4% and Ort 35.2% (ρ = 0.018). The FW values are high, especially in the paediatric ward. The institutions are unaware of the FW produced and given the magnitude of the problem it is necessary to implement effective measures.