INTRODUCTION:

Food waste is an actual problem in school canteens. In a sustainable logic, it’s essential to find out possible causes to reduce this issue. To this end, food waste quantification is fundamental.

OBJECTIVES:

Evaluate the food waste of the main dish students, in the lunch meal, in two units of contract catering of the public- school sector.

METHODOLOGY:

Cross-sectional observational study. Evaluation of the food waste of the main dish was proceeded from preschool to high school, during 10 days. In order to quantify the leftovers and plate waste of 2686 meals, the physical method was used.

RESULTS:

A ratio of 25% of overall food waste was verified for 2686 served meals, showing, in average, an index of leftovers and plate waste of 8% and 18%, respectively. 904 students could be fed with the food waste obtained.

CONCLUSIONS:

Leftovers and plate waste in the plate components, are above the waste values recommended by literature (<3% and <10%, respectively), justifying an urgent need for intervention.

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