Date of Award
12-2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Food, Nutrition, and Culinary Science
Committee Chair/Advisor
Condrasky, Margaret D
Committee Member
Kunkel , Beth
Committee Member
Jiang , Xiuping
Abstract
Effective waste management has always posed a challenge to those in food service operations. This study investigated the amount of food waste from Bon Secours St. Francis Health System foodservice operations using the Trim Trax¨ program. Trim Trax¨ is a food waste management program in which employees measure the volume of waste produced in pre-production and post-production areas. The objectives of this study were to collect the amount of waste produced during meal preparations and compare it with three weeks of retrospective data kept by employees in the salad/baking pre-production area, the cooking/grilling pre-production area and post-production area. Results showed a significant difference between the collected (26.38, 49.10 and 32.71 quarts for the salad/baking pre-production cooking/grilling pre-production area and post-production areas respectively) and employee reported data (19.14, 30.38 and 9.88 quarts, for the salad/baking pre-production cooking/grilling pre-production area and post-production areas respectively) over the three week period. It was also found that lettuce (6.33 quarts), onion (10.24 quarts) and tomatoes, zucchini and onion (~3.80 quarts each) accounted for the most waste in the salad/baking area, cooking/grilling pre-production area and post-production area. Overall, the results indicated that even though the data obtained in both cases (reported and collected) were similar by produce type, there was a marked difference in the total waste obtained over three weeks in all three areas (salad/baking pre-production, cooking/grilling pre-production and post-production). This could be due to a lack of proper training or the lack of understanding of proper waste disposal practices. Thus, developing an educational intervention that effectively utilizes the Trim Trax ¨ program could help in managing inventory and reducing food waste within the food service operation.
Recommended Citation
Habadi, Amal, "THE FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN A SOUTHEASTERN HOSPITAL" (2011). All Theses. 1221.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/1221