Foodservice Operations Research Articles

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists’ Perspectives on Integrating Food and Water System Issues into Professional Practice

BackgroundSustainable agriculture encompasses economic, environmental, and social aspects of the food system. Members of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Academy) play an important role in promoting sustainable agriculture because they work in areas where they can influence the food purchasing decisions of foodservice operations and the public. ObjectiveTo investigate behavior of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) toward incorporating sustainable agriculture principles into professional practice using the Theory of Planned Behavior. DesignThis cross-sectional study surveyed RDNs nationwide about their perspectives on incorporating sustainable agriculture issues into practice. The survey questions were based on a survey originally administered to Minnesota RDNs during 2002. Participants and settingThe sample (N=626) was drawn from a randomly selected, national sample of Academy members. Statistical analyses performedData were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t tests, Pearson correlations, and stepwise regression. ResultsThe sample was mostly white, female, and the average age was 45.4±12.2 years. Almost half of Academy RDNs (47%) reported incorporating environmental issues into their practice. All four Theory of Planned Behavior variables (intention, attitude, perceived behavior control, and subjective norm) were predictive of behavior to include sustainable agriculture issues into practice. Barriers to incorporating this topic into practice included lack of knowledge, ability, time, and employer support. ConclusionsThis study found that most of the RDN respondents had heard of sustainable agriculture and nearly half reported including this topic in their professional practice. To integrate this topic into practice more consistently, RDNs need more knowledge, time, and employer support.

Impact of Dining Café Atmospherics on Youth Behavioural Intention

This study aims to investigate the impact of café atmospherics on Malaysian youth behavioural intention. The findings from the study indicate: (1) The youth preferences of store atmosphere in cafes include five factors, specifically, lighting, facility aesthetic, employee factor, ambient intelligent and music; (2) Cafe atmospheric (lighting, facility aesthetic, employee factor, ambient intelligent and music) factors have significant positive correlation with youth approach behaviours. As a conclusion, this study is important to the foodservice operators to understand the youth intention to revisit a café. The paper concludes with the implications for academic researchers and marketing practitioners.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Atmospheric; Youth; Behavioural Intention; Malaysia.

On tap: Foodservice operators’ perceptions of a wine innovation

ABSTRACTAn online survey explored foodservice operators’ (N = 57) perceptions of wine-on-tap, a recent trend in the United States. Adopters (39.1%) considered themselves more innovative, willing to take risks, and influential on others’ opinions than nonadopters (60.9%). Foodservice operators who currently offer wine-on-tap utilized interpersonal information sources (e.g., distributors) more frequently than nonadopters. Additionally, adopters perceived wine-on-tap’s characteristics more positively than nonadopters, indicating wine-on-tap was significantly easier to use than bottled wine. Among other implications, networking stood out as an important driver of innovative behavior in the foodservice industry.

What Matters Most? Factors Influencing International Students’ Satisfaction towards Cafeteria Foods

The Malaysian government is focusing on developing education tourism to boost tourist arrivals. Apart from acquiring education, students’ well-being in terms of food-consumption is a major fragment in a student’s life. This paper puts emphasize on evaluating tourist resources as a component of tourism development through identification of international students’ demands on food and how the foodservice suppliers should adjust to this. In particular, it will address international students’ satisfaction towards cafeteria foods in university foodservice in Malaysia via extracting the salient factors that matters most in their evaluation of quality food and food price. Qualitative approach via open ended comment cards were distributed among 55 international students during April 2013 and content analysis was done on the feedbacks gathered. Based on the findings, majority of international students were dissatisfied with the taste, nutrition, hygiene, temperature, freshness and price of the food served by the cafeterias. This study will add to the under-researched area of foodservice sector academically and practically via identification of factors which international students’ think are important as quality food with acceptable price towards their satisfaction in cafeteria dining. This will benefit the university foodservice operators in providing best practices as one of the tourism suppliers in enhancing tourism development. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4p295

Health consciousness, menu information, and consumers’ purchase intentions: An empirical investigation

ABSTRACTIn response to increasing obesity rates among Americans, foodservice operations are doing their part by helping consumers make wiser choices by providing nutritional information on menus and offering healthy and low-density menu offerings. The current study examines the relational effects of consumer health consciousness and perception of restaurant menu information on behavioral intentions, perception of food quality, and purchase decisions. Results showed that health consciousness was a significant predictor of behavioral intentions and purchase decisions, and perception of menu information had a positive effect on behavioral intentions and perception of food quality. Industry implications and future research opportunities are also discussed.

Drinking With Your Heart on Your Straw: Nudges to Entice Patrons to Choose Water over Soda

Sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption has been linked to death and disease worldwide and a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. The objective of this study was to utilize the mechanisms of Behavioral Economics to examine which type of nudge would be effective to entice customers to choose water instead of SSB. Three types of nudge interventions, with washout periods between, were used throughout the seven-week study. Posters with a nutrition (self-interest), charity (pro-social) or a combination of both nudges were displayed in an Italian-style fast-food franchise. Multi-level logistic regression was used to compare the proportions of customers who chose water across the three experimental conditions and controlled for fixed effects of day of week, cashier, and food order. Also assessed was if frequency of visits to the dining establishment moderated the effect of experimental condition on beverage choice. Multiple data points from the same customer were treated as repeated measures. There were 6,730 meals purchased by 2,393 unique customers. The nutrition (19.2%) and combination poster (18.3%) increased choice of water relative to the washout periods (13.2%), but the charity poster did not (13.1%). Beverage choice differed across day of the week (χ2=10.29, p=.04). There was a significant effect of cashier (χ2=83.74, p=<.001) and food order on water choice (χ2=41.05, p=<.001). Frequent diners were less influenced by the nutrition poster than less frequent diners (p=.046) but dining frequency did not moderate the effect of the charity and nutrition combination poster (p=.094). A nutrition nudge can be utilized in a food service operation to decrease SSB and increase water intake.

Reduced-portion entrées in a worksite and restaurant setting: impact on food consumption and waste.

Large portion sizes in restaurants have been identified as a public health risk. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether customers in two different food-service operator segments (non-commercial worksite cafeteria and commercial upscale restaurant) would select reduced-portion menu items and the impact of selecting reduced-portion menu items on energy and nutrient intakes and plate waste. Consumption and plate waste data were collected for 5 weeks before and 7 weeks after introduction of five reduced-size entrées in a worksite lunch cafeteria and for 3 weeks before and 4 weeks after introduction of five reduced-size dinner entrées in a restaurant setting. Full-size entrées were available throughout the entire study periods. A worksite cafeteria and a commercial upscale restaurant in a large US Midwestern metropolitan area. Adult worksite employees and restaurant patrons. Reduced-size entrées accounted for 5·3-12·8 % and 18·8-31·3 % of total entrées selected in the worksite and restaurant settings, respectively. Food waste, energy intake and intakes of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, Na, fibre, Ca, K and Fe were significantly lower when both full- and reduced-size entrées were served in the worksite setting and in the restaurant setting compared with when only full-size entrées were served. A relatively small proportion of reduced-size entrées were selected but still resulted in reductions in overall energy and nutrient intakes. These outcomes could serve as the foundation for future studies to determine strategies to enhance acceptance of reduced-portion menu items in restaurant settings.

What’s the Latest on Acrylamide?

What’s the Latest on Acrylamide?

Identifying Farm to School Barriers and Keys to Success: Perceptions of Hourly Employees

ABSTRACTSchool foodservice operations constitute a large portion of the noncommercial foodservice industry. Due to the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, school foodservice employees are faced with the challenge of serving increased amounts of produce to students. Farm to school programs may help meet this challenge. This study focused on identifying barriers and keys to success when using local produce from farm to school programs. Semistructured Interviews were conducted with hourly school foodservice employees. Challenges included appearance, shelf life, service to students, and availability. Keys to success included exposure and support, service, and employee motivation. Results of the study are not generalizable but were used to develop a questionnaire to identify barriers among a larger sample.

Implementing healthier foodservice guidelines in hospital and federal worksite cafeterias: barriers, facilitators and keys to success

Healthy foodservice guidelines are being implemented in worksites and healthcare facilities to increase access to healthy foods by employees and public populations. However, little is known about the barriers to and facilitators of implementation. The present study aimed to examine barriers to and facilitators of implementation of healthy foodservice guidelines in federal worksite and hospital cafeterias. Using a mixed-methods approach, including a quantitative survey followed by a qualitative, in-depth interview, we examined: (i) barriers to and facilitators of implementation; (ii) behavioural design strategies used to promote healthier foods and beverages; and (iii) how implementation of healthy foodservice guidelines influenced costs and profitability. We used a purposive sample of five hospital and four federal worksite foodservice operators who recently implemented one of two foodservice guidelines: the United States Department of Health and Human Services/General Services Administration Health and Sustainability Guidelines ('Guidelines') in federal worksites or the Partnership for a Healthier America Hospital Healthier Food Initiative ('Initiative') in hospitals. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative survey data. Qualitative data were analysed using a deductive approach. Implementation facilitators included leadership support, adequate vendor selections and having dietitians assist with implementation. Implementation barriers included inadequate selections from vendors, customer complaints and additional expertise required for menu labelling. Behavioural design strategies used most frequently included icons denoting healthier options, marketing using social media and placement of healthier options in prime locations. Lessons learned can guide subsequent steps for future healthy foodservice guideline implementation in similar settings.

Food Safety Posters for Safe Handling of Leafy Greens

This article describes food safety educational tools depicting safe handling of leafy greens that are available as downloadable posters to Extension educators and practitioners (www.extension.iastate.edu). Nine visual-based minimal-text colored posters in English, Chinese, and Spanish were developed for use when formally or informally educating foodservice workers about safely handling leafy greens. A three-phase methodology included the use of expert knowledge, microbial sampling, and observational study in Iowa and Kansas foodservice operations. Use of the posters was shown to have positive impacts on both microbial levels and food safety behaviors, suggesting that the posters can be useful tools for Extension personnel.

병원 급식소와 영양사의 특성이 HACCP 선행요건 수행도에 미치는 영향

Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyze factors that influence prerequisite program (PRP) performance of hospital foodservice operation. Data was collected through surveys given to 65 dietitians working in general hospital with ≥100 beds. Importance score of sanitary management for the self-operated establishments was significantly higher than that of contract-managed in the areas of working environment management (p<0.01), waste management (p<0.05), clean·disinfection management (p<0.05). Performance score of hospitals with ≤300 beds was significantly lower than that of hospitals with ≥300 beds in personal hygiene management (p<0.05). Moreover, importance score of dietitians spending ≥3 hours on inspection time was significantly higher than that of dieticians spending ≤3 hr in waste management area. According to the results of Pearson correlation analysis, PRP performance score was positively related with dietitian’s career (p<0.05), number of submitted beds (p<0.05), cooking process inspection time (p<0.05), dietitian’s job satisfaction ( p<0.01), and holding rate of utensil and equipment ( p<0.05). In addition, the results of multiple regression analysis showed that dietitian’s job satisfaction (p<0.001) and holding rate of utensil and equipment (p<0.05) had a significant positive effect on prerequisite program performance. In conclusion, improvement of working condition to increase dietitian’s job satisfaction and securing of utensils and equipments are high priorities for improvement of PRP performance.Key words: hospital foodservice operation, sanitary management, dietitian, prerequisite program, job satisfaction

Consumer perception of traditional foods in Ghana

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to identify the various traditional foods available in two towns in Ghana and to assess consumer perception about these traditional foods. Traditional foods provide nutritional and health benefits, but their consumption keeps declining, such that some are becoming extinct.Design/methodology/approach– The level of knowledge of consumers and their attitude toward the consumption of traditional foods were determined. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Sekondi and four areas in Kumasi, with a sample size of 200 in each of the two towns. The data obtained were analyzed using Pearson correlation and Chi-square test for independence.Findings– While consumers had very good general knowledge of the traditional foods, most of them had little knowledge on nutrient compositions of the foods. About 95.5 per cent of respondents in Sekondi consumed traditional foods relative to those in Kumasi (62.5 per cent). There was no linear relationship existing between respondents’ knowledge, attitude and consumption of traditional foods (r&lt; 0.50). More so, respondents’ attitude, knowledge and consumption of traditional foods, mostly, did not depend on the demographic factors (age and education). Other factors such as convenience, economic status of respondents and safety of traditional foods may be contributory factors to the low patronage and consumption of traditional foods.Originality/value– Most researches on traditional foods in Ghana have mostly focused on food ingredients; therefore, there is little or no available information on consumer perception of prepared traditional foods. Because consumer opinions change over time, there is a need to consistently gather data to help food industries and food service operators meet consumer needs and expectations.

Evaluation on HACCP prerequisite-program performance within general hospital foodservice operations

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine prerequisite-program performance of the hospital foodservice operation and develop measures for improvement of prerequisite-program performance. Methods: Data were collected through surveys administered to 168 hospital dieticians in the Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi-do, Daegu, and North Gyeongsang areas. Out of total questionnaires, 65 questionnaires were usable and the response rate was 38.7%. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS program (ver 20.0) for χ 2 -test and one-way ANOVA. Results: According to the result of the prerequisiteprogram evaluation, the percentage of ‘appropriate’, ‘needs to be improved’, and ‘inappropriate’ was 44.6%, 47.7%, and 7.7%, respectively. The score for the ‘inappropriate’ group was significantly lower than that of the ‘appropriate’ group or ‘needs to be improved’ group on the food safety management (p < 0.001), preparation facility management (p < 0.001), water management (p < 0.001), and storage·transportation management (p < 0.05) parts. Holding rate of foodservice facility and equipments in the appropriate group were significantly higher than in the others on convection oven (p < 0.01), air conditioner (p < 0.01), three-compartment sink (p < 0.01), hot-holding equipment (p < 0.01), cold-holding equipment (p < 0.05), exclusive thawing refrigerator (p < 0.05), and sterilizer for sanitary shoes (p < 0.05) items. Conclusion: To improve the quality of hospital foodservice, foodservice managers and HACCP specialists should develop and implement a prerequisiteprogram and a HACCP plan considering the characteristics of the hospital foodservice operation.

A Study on the Relationship between School Foodservice Employees' Attitudes toward Food Hygiene Education and Hygiene Practices

ABSTRACT - In order to provide efficient information ensuring school food safety, this current study investi-gated the relationship between general characteristics of food service operation and food hygiene practices andemployee’s attitudes toward food hygiene education and food hygiene practices. Data were collected from a total of185 school food service employees in the GyeongSangNam-do area. As for the differences in the overall the evalua-tion of sanitary practice level in accordance with the general characteristics about the school food service employees,there were significant differences in the type of school food service and times of serving food per day. Also, hygienepractices in solo foodservice were better than in joint foodservice. The respondents who had positive attitudes towardfood safety education showed better food safety practices. It is recommended that consistent food safety educationbased on various methods can contribute to appropriate food safety performance. Key words : school foodservice employee, general characteristics, attitudes toward food hygiene education, foodhygiene practices

Consumer perceptions on sustainable practices implemented in foodservice organizations in Korea.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVESSustainable practices in foodservice organizations including commercial and noncommercial ones are critical to ensure the protection of the environment for the future. With the rapid growth of the foodservice industry, wiser usage of input sources such as food, utilities, and single use packaging should be reconsidered for future generations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the customer's perceptions on sustainable practices and to identify the relationship among sustainable practices, social contribution and purchase intention.SUBJECTS/METHODSThe study was conducted using content analyses by reviewing articles on sustainable food service practices published domestically and abroad. Thereafter, data were collected with a face-to-face survey using a questionnaire and analyzed with factor analyses and multiple regressions.RESULTSSustainable practices classified with factor analysis consisted of 6 dimensions of green food material procurement, sustainable food preparation, green packaging, preservation of energy, waste management, and public relations on green activity, with a total of 25 green activities in foodservice operations. Consumers were not very familiar with the green activities implemented in the foodservice unit, with the lowest awareness of "green food material procurement (2.46 out of 5 points)", and the highest awareness of "green packaging (3.74)" and "waste management (3.28). The factors influencing the perception of social contribution by foodservice organizations among 6 sustainable practice dimensions were found to be public relations on green activity (β = 0.154), waste management (β = 0.204) and sustainable food preparation (β = 0.183). Green packaging (β = 0.107) and the social contribution of the foodservice organization (β = 0.761) had strong relationships with the image of the organization. The purchase intentions of customers was affected only by the foodservice image (β = 0.775).CONCLUSIONSThe results of this study suggest that sustainable practices by foodservice organization present a good image to customers and increase the awareness of valuable contributions that benefit the customer as well as the community.

Investigating Children’s Role in Family Dining-Out Choices: Evidence From a Casual Dining Restaurant

This study investigates children’s influence over parents with regards to the selection of family dining-out options. To further understand the connection between children’s influence on family dining and practical behaviors, this study examined children’s roles in relation to family communication patterns. Additionally, children’s demographic characteristics were examined as predictors influencing family dining-out choices. The context of this study was casual dining restaurants, a popular destination for family dining, vis-a-vis Taiwanese family consumers. The results show that mothers play a dominant role in the family dining-out decision-making process, and that children’s influence is similar to that of fathers in deciding on the type of restaurants, the specific restaurant, and the order of food items while at a restaurant. Additionally, teenage children have more influence than fathers. This study offers practical implications for foodservice operators in the development of family-friendly services, and in the development of future marketing strategies.

Consumer Knowledge and Perceptions Towards Food Safety Practices: Implications for Consumer Education Programs

Food safety knowledge and perceptions of consumers are important factors in preventing incidence of foodborne illnesses. The purpose of this study was to determine consumers’ knowledge and perceptions towards food safety and practices. In particular, this study assessed knowledge level of consumers related to key food safety practices and determined the perceptions of consumers regarding food safety practices in foodservice operations. Additionally, it determined consumers’ ability to observe food safety practices in foodservice operations. Results revealed that, in general, consumers were knowledgeable about food safety but did not understand certain basic processes of food safety, such as handwashing and preventing food safety hazards. This study also found that respondents were concerned about food safety and adhered to foodservice operations’ food safety practices. Implications and recommendations for Extension programming were drawn from study results.

The Impact of Kitchen and Food Service Preparation Practices on the Volatile Aroma Profile in Ripe Tomatoes: Effects of Refrigeration and Blanching

Both refrigeration and blanching of red-stage tomatoes are common practices in Japan home kitchens and in food service operations. However, little is reported on the impact of such practices on aroma profiles in tomato fruits. In this study, ‘FL 47’ tomatoes at red stage were dipped in 50 °C hot water for 5 minutes or exposed to 5 °C for 4 days to simulate consumer handling of tomato in food service or home kitchens, respectively. Of the 42 volatile compounds detected, refrigeration generally suppressed production of aldehydes, alcohols, oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds, and nitrogen- and oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds, including the following abundant and/or important volatiles: pentanal, 3-methylbutanal, 2-methylbutanal, hexanal, cis-3-hexenal, trans-2-hexenal, 2-phenylacetaldehyde, pentanol, 3-methylbutanol, 2-phenylethanol, 1-penten-3-one, geranial, and geranylacetone. On the other hand, the production of aldehydes, alcohols, hydrocarbons, oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds, and nitrogen- and oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds was reduced by blanching, associated with low concentrations of 2-methylbutanal, pentanal, cis-3-hexenal, trans-2-hexenal, 2-phenylacetaldehyde, pentanol, 2-methylbutanol, and 2-phenylethanol. These results indicate that a short blanching or refrigeration of tomatoes substantially impacts tomato aroma quality.

Use of Nutrition Standards to Improve Nutritional Quality of Hospital Patient Meals: Findings from New York City’s Healthy Hospital Food Initiative

BackgroundMost hospital patient meals are considered regular-diet meals; these meals are not required to meet comprehensive nutrition standards for a healthy diet. Although programs exist to improve nutrition in hospital food, the focus is on retail settings such as vending machines and cafeterias vs patient meals. New York City’s Healthy Hospital Food Initiative (HHFI) provides nutrition standards for regular-diet meals that hospitals can adopt, in addition to retail standards. ObjectiveThis study was undertaken to describe regular-diet patient menus before and after implementation of the HHFI nutrition standards. DesignThe study involved pre- and post- menu change analyses of hospitals participating in the HHFI between 2010 and 2014. Participants/settingEight New York City hospitals, selected based on voluntary participation in the HHFI, were included in the analyses. Main outcome measuresNutritional content of regular-diet menus were compared with the HHFI nutrition standards. Statistical analyses performedNutrient analysis and exact Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for the analysis of the data. ResultsAt baseline, no regular-diet menu met all HHFI standards, and most exceeded the daily limits for percentage of calories from fat (n=5), percentage of calories from saturated fat (n=5), and milligrams of sodium (n=6), and they did not meet the minimum grams of fiber (n=7). Hospitals met all key nutrient standards after implementation, increasing fiber (25%, P<0.01) and decreasing sodium (−19%, P<0.05), percentage of calories from fat (−24%, P<0.01), and percentage of calories from saturated fat (−21%, P<0.05). A significant increase was seen in fresh fruit servings (667%, P<0.05) and decreases in full-fat and reduced-fat milk servings (−100%, P<0.05), refined grain servings (−35%, P<0.05), and frequency of desserts (−92%, P<0.05). ConclusionsRegular diet menus did not comply with the HHFI nutrition standards at baseline. Using the HHFI framework, hospitals significantly improved the nutritional quality of regular-diet patient menus. The standards were applied across hospitals of varying sizes, locations, menu types, and food service operations, indicating feasibility of this framework in a range of hospital settings.