Abstract

BOTELHO, Goreti  and  TRAVASSOS, Catarina. Food Waste Characterisation of Elderly from One Institution in Aveiro District: Case Study. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2017, n.8, pp.10-15. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2017.0803.

Introduction: The food waste is a reality that needs to be better known in order to find strategies to contribute for its decrease. Objectives: This study aimed to quantify and qualify the food waste at lunch time of elderly attending a Private Institution of Social Solidarity in the Aveiro district, through the quantification of leftovers and plate waste from this meal. Methodology: Data collection comprised 20 working days and included 26 elderly (84.0 ± 4.9 years) and lunch meal. The soup, the main course (meat or fish and respective side dishes), dessert and bread were weighed before and after the distribution for subsequent calculation of leftovers and plate waste indices. Results: In total, 605.2 kg of food were produced, of which 80.6% was actually consumed. The remaining 19.4% constituted waste. Average index of plate waste was 3.7%, “excellent/good”, but it was “regular” and “bad” for side dishes and bread, respectively. The average index of leftovers was 16.3%, which is considered “unacceptable” according to the reference values present in literature. The costs of waste not used amounted to € 230.15 representing 15.8% of the meals cost. After a year, the estimated value could reach € 2,991.95. Conclusions: The case study demonstrated the existence of a worrying food waste, indicating a need for improvement in the management of the quantity of food produced, better adaptation of menus to the elderly and implementation of measures aimed at reducing food waste and optimize costs.

Keywords : Food waste; Elderly; Plate wastes; Leftovers.

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