Waste Management & Research (1983) 1, 295-308

FOOD WASTE FROM HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

IN THE U .K.t

A . J . Youngs*, G . Nobis* and P . Town*

(Received 31 August 1983)

An investigation into food waste in the hotel sector of the catering industry was
performed in two stages . In the first stage food waste was measured by a direct
observation technique in four hotels, two units within a city centre restaurant complex
and two units within the public restaurant of a catering college . Measurements
continued for between 6 and 21 days . Edible and inedible waste ranged from 20 to
38% of the energy value of meals served in the hotels, 9% in the city centre restaurant
complex and 42% in the college restaurant . In the second stage total food waste was
measured in two hotels and in the same city centre restaurant complex by an indirect
technique to avoid influencing working practices . Waste values represented 31 and
33% of food input on an energy basis in the hotels and 3% of food input
on an energy basis in the restaurant complex .
The apparently high waste values in the hotels studied are attributed to their
traditional catering methods using a high proportion of unprocessed foods and
offering extensive menus . The low waste values in the restaurant complex reflects
the almost total use of preprepared food items, restricted menus, customers paying
for each meal at the time of eating and established company control procedures .

Key Words-Food waste, hotels, restaurants, catering, pig farms .

1 . Introduction

1 .1 . Waste generation during food preparation, service and consumption

The loss of edible food material during the preparation, service and consumption of
meals has been acknowledged as an undesirable occurrence for a considerable length
of time . Children in particular have been encouraged, cajoled or threatened over the
centuries not to leave food behind on their plates at the end of a meal .
Guides to household management published in the 19th century placed considerable
emphasis on recipes which allow the use of less attractive food components or allow
the re-use of food items returned to the kitchen, both of which may otherwise have
been discarded by the careless housewife, e.g . Beeton (1861) .
Similarly the concept of the maximum use of all available food with minimum
generation of waste was vigorously promoted in wartime Britain from 1939 to 1945 .

1 .2 . Survey of previous investigations

Since the late 1800s a series of investigations have been carried out to examine the
extent of food waste both at an individual household level and at out-of-home eating

*Department of Catering and Hotel Administration, Dorset Institute of Higher Education, Wallisdown
Road, Poole, Dorset BH12 51313, U .K .
tBased on Youngs et al. (1982) .

0734-242X/83/040295 + 14 $03 .00/0 © 1983 ISWA



296 A . J. Youngs et al .

TABLE I
A summary of investigations into food waste during food preparation, service and consumption
in households and catering premises 1896-1981

Authors Method Food waste (° 11loss)

Atwater & Bryant (1896) Dietary studies of farmers, mechanics and

Cathcart & Murray
(1939)
Kling (1943)
Andross (1946)
Grey & Dubois (1947)
Arnell & Badham (1949)
Chappell (1954)
Adelson et al. (1961)
Adelson et al. (1963)
Harrison et al. (1975)
DHSS (1979)
Wenlock et al . (1980)
Banks & Collinson (1981)
Kirk & Osner (1981)
Youngs et al. (1982)
professional families and student clubs in
U .S .A . 2 .5-15 E
Two hundred and sixty-three volunteer
families in U .K . recorded discarded food 1-3 E
Estimate by Nutrition and Food
Conservation Branch, Food Distribution
Administration, Washington D .C . 15 W
Analysis of weight losses during preparation Eggs : 1 .5-13 W
and cooking in U .K . Meat : 15-60 W
Plate waste in Scottish schools 1-12 W
Plate waste in U .S . college dining room 6-36 W
Plate waste in army dining room 5-12 W
2-6 E
Analysis of weight losses during food
preparation in U .K . 1 .2--60 W
Households in U .S .A . 2-18 E, 2-8 W
Households in U .S .A . 10 E
Food in rubbish bins in U .S .A . 9-10 W
Food waste in hospitals in U .K . 0 .5-85 W
Household food waste in U .K . 6 .5 E summer
5 .4 E winter
Food waste in catering industry in U .K . 5-30 E
Food waste from catering in a university
and polytechnic in U .K . 1 .4-18 E
Food waste in hotels and restaurants in
the U .K . 9-42 E

Abbreviations : E, energey content ; W, wet weight basis.

locations . Particular attention has been paid to losses occurring during preparation,
during cooking and as a result of food being left on the plate at the end of the meal .
The results of some of these investigations are summarized in Table 1 .
The different basis upon which results from the studies are reported introduces
problems of comparability. Nevertheless considerable disagreement about the quantity
of waste generated during food preparation and consumption is evident . Cathcart &
Murray (1939) suggest a loss of edible calories as low as .
106% when food is prepared
in the home for family consumption . Harrison (1975) suggests an average value under
similar circumstances as high as 9 .7% while a Department of Health and Social Security
(DHSS) study published in 1979 suggests total food wastage on a net weight basis to
be as high as 42% in acute hospitals (DHSS 1979) .
It would not be unexpected to find that the quantity of food waste will vary from
country to country, be dependent upon standard of living and be influenced by periods
of national economic restraint . These influences are to some extent shown up in the
studies reported in Table 1 .
It is the reasons for waste generation, however, which provide a basis for the


Food waste from hotels and restaurants 297

development of control measures . Kling (1943) and Roy (1976) have identified a range
of factors which may influence food waste .

1 .2 .1 . Poor selection offood items

It is implied that low quality food material with a high spoilage potential needing a
greater amount of trimming and having a low degree of attraction to the consumer will
result in higher loss . Andross (1946) presented values indicating the percentage waste
in the preparation of vegetables bought during four consecutive years . Waste generation
from potatoes, for example, varied from 26% in 1940 to 40% in 1945 . Similarly Chappell
(1954) attributes the 50% wastage generated during the preparation of carrots reported
by Andross (1946) compared to her own value of 14 .5% and the 4% of McCance &
Widdowson (1942) to differences in quality .

1 .2 .2 . Overbuying
The inability to use purchased food material before deterioration will result in losses
when this food is discarded . Roy (1976) cites the example of a threefold greater waste
of beef during the 1973 United States beef shortage than after it attributable to panic
overbuying and inability to use unfamiliar cuts of beef .

1 .2 .3 . Poor food storage

Incorrect storage may lead to a total loss of material as a result of pest infestation,
bacterial growth and fungal growth . Partial loss, attributable to a loss of nutrients
but not of organoleptic quality, can occur in commodities such as milk, a 50% reduction
in riboflavin occurring as a result of 2 h exposure to sunlight (Bender 1978) and such
as vegetables, up to 70% reduction in vitamin C occurring during a storage period of
only several days at room temperature (Bender 1978) . Alternatively, a slightly damaged
product, for example a bruised fruit, may become unacceptable to the consumer even
though there is very little reduction in nutritive value .

1 .2 .4 . Excessive preparation losses

The removal of the less edible outer layers of fruits and vegetables can also result in
significant quantities of potentially edible material being discarded . Chappell (1954)
presents values for preparation waste obtained from her own study and values from
three previous studies including those from Andross (1946) although no values for the
minimum acceptable waste are given .

1 .2 .5 . Inability to use by-products

The discard of potentially useful cooking juices, vegetable peelings, dark meat from
poultry are examples of the loss of nutrients occurring during food preparation . Methods
for the use of by-products are well documented but do demand considerable time input
and may result in the production of low value products .

1 .2 .6 . Poor cooking/holding techniques

Three classes of waste may occur as a result of poor food handling practices :

(i) Excessive loss of nutrients due to overheating as extensively discussed by many

authors, e .g . O'Connor & Youngs (1980), Bender (1978) .
(ii) Container waste . Andross (1946) presents values for the waste produced in the
preparation of a range of menu items and resulting in the loss of material to the cooking
medium, for example amounting to a 15% loss of protein during the poaching of eggs,


298 A . J. Youngs et al .

in water, and in loss due to adherence to the cooking utensils, for example a 11 .6°„
loss of protein from scrambled eggs .
(iii) Unattractive food being presented to the consumer . High plate waste due to poor
meal quality is highlighted by Arnell & Badham (1949) and by the DHSS Hospital
Meal Survey (1979) . Hereford and Worcester County Council reported a reduction in
the quantity of plate waste in their school meals programme following the introduction
of a cook-freeze system and a consequential improvement in meal quality (Electricity
Council 1974) .

1 .2 .7 . Shortage of ' labour and equipment

Lack of time to recycle by-products will result in high wastage rates (as discussed in
1 .2 .5 . )1 .

1 .2 .8 . Excessive portion sizes

Poor portion control was a factor identified as being a particular problem in catering
for patients in acute hospitals (DHSS 1979) .

1 .2 .9 . Inability of the eater to remove all edible material

Grey & Dubois (1947) in particular identified citrus fruit eaten at breakfast and chop
type meat items as posing problems for the consumer . Between 50 and 80% of edible
material was reported as being left in grapefruit served to college students and 39% left
on pork chops .

1 .2 .10 . Service method

Grey & Dubois (1947) suggested that family type service of food results in less waste
than cafeteria type service . Their comparison was, however, conducted at different meal
occasions and the influence of service method is not clearly differentiated from the
influence of meal occasion .
In addition to these points which may contribute to waste generation within a catering
operation Banks & Collinson (1981) have shown a positive correlation between low
waste generation and high convenience food usage, low food input, small number of
menu items and good management control procedures . No significant correlation
between waste generation and number of customers or percentage of dry content of
input was found .

1 .3 . Present study
Examination of the studies previously cited indicate that mass feeding away from home
often results in greater food loss than food preparation and consumption within the
home . The desire of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) to obtain
information of the extent of food wastage by the catering industry resulted in a series
of investigations being funded during 1979 and 1980 . These investigations were carried
out within the context of figures indicating a 25-28% gap between the energy content
of food available for human consumption and the energy obtained from food actually
consumed (Pereira 1974, Singer & Smart 1977) . This present investigation into food
wastage in the hotal sector of the catering industry was funded by MAFF as part of
their recent programme .
The investigation consisted of two phases . Firstly a direct assessment of waste
generation in eight catering units each studied for between 6 and 21 days using a method
which involved the assessment of food input and of waste generated by having one of


Food waste from hotels and restaurants 299

the research team on the premises during meal preparation .

Secondly an indirect assessment of the total food waste generated over a continuous
28-day period in three of the units previously studied . This involved monitoring all
food entering the unit by examining food invoices and monitoring all waste leaving by
examining swill bins . This was achieved without research team members being in the
food preparation areas in an attempt to eliminate the influence on working practices
the first phase study indicated their presence produced .
Accepting the possibility that catering may be responsible for significant food waste
generation it is relevant to assess the role of the catering industry in the eating patterns
of the United Kingdom population as a whole .

1 .4 . The role of the catering industry in the United Kingdom eating pattern

Acknowledging the scope of the catering industry it is difficult to arrive at a reasonable

estimate which indicates the amount of food consumed away from home, both in
quantitative and in monetary terms .
The most useful survey carried out so far has been the study by the Hotel and Catering
Economic Development Council . Their last report covering the period April 1976 to
March 1977 [National Economic Development Office (NEDO) 1977] indicated the
number of meal occasions taken outside the home by people above the age of 11 years
to be 85 million per week . Adjustment of this figure to include school meals served to
those under 11 years and to all hospital patients produces a value of 104 million meal
occasions per week . Inclusion of snacks raises it to 152 million meal occasions per week
which represents approximately 14% of the total number of meals being consumed in
the United Kingdom a value close to the 16% of total food expenditure being spent on
out-of-home eating quoted by Cleminson (1982) . This 16% of total food expenditure
represents £4293 millions at 1980 prices [Central Statistical Office (CSO) 1981],
equivalent to £2342 millions at 1975 prices, a much higher figure than the £1134 millions
which the frozen food company Ross estimated was spent on wholesale purchases by
all sectors of the catering industry in 1975 (Ross 1975) . While the profit sector of the
industry may operate a 50% mark up on wholesale prices the much larger non-profit
sector does not . While the level of accuracy of the figures quoted above is not great
the point is made that the catering industry plays a significant role in feeding the United
Kingdom population . There are indications that the numbers of meals taken away from
home will rise further and in this context it is interesting to note that 38% of all meals
eaten in the United States are provided by the catering industry (Cleminson 1982) .
Within this overall picture of eating out the Hotel and Catering Economic Develop-
ment Council indicate a distribution within the catering industry as shown in Table 2 .
Thus the hotel and restaurant sector is responsible for approximately 9% of the total
meals served by the catering industry .

2 . Methods

2 .1 . Locations studied

In order to obtain truly representative figures of food waste within the hotel sector of
the catering industry, it would have been ideal to study as large a number of randomly
chosen units as possible .
The long term nature of the investigation and the need for research team members
300 A . J. Youngs et al .

TABLE 2
Structure of the U .K . catering industry by percentage of
meal occasions (NEDO 1977)

Per cent of meal occasions

Type of Establishment (total 104 million per week)

Place of work 26
Take-away 10
School meals 21
Cafe and snack bars 10
Hotels and restaurants 9
Pubs and pub restaurants 8
Hospitals 8
Others 8

TABLE 3
Profile of catering units co-operating with the food waste investigation

Catering unit and

star ratings Style of menu Method of service Comments

Hotel A Extensive Silver service High standard of

** table d'hote accommodation and service
Hotel B Table d'hote Silver service Traditional hotel with good
*** cyclical conference trade
Hotel C Table d'hote Silver service Major hotel chain unit
*** cyclical
Hotel D Extensive Silver service Concentration on health and
*** table d'hote hydro image
Hotel E Extensive Silver service Traditional hotel
*** table d'hote
Restaurant F Limited Plate service Busy city centre restaurant
table d'hote
Food Bar
Self service Limited Self service
à la carte
Coffe shop Snacks Self service
College Restaurant G
Table service Extensive Silver service College training restaurant
table d'hote
Coffee shop Limited Plate service
table d'hote

to be present in the food preparation areas of the hotels under study restricted the
choice of units to those willing to co-operate with a process which could cause some
inconvenience to their operation .
With the help of the local Hotel and Catering Industry Training Board and using
existing contacts of the research team, six hotels and one restaurant complex agreed to
participate . In addition, two catering outlets in a college of higher education were studied .
A profile of the units involved in the study is given in Table 3 .


Food waste from hotels and restaurants 301

2 .2 . Food waste measurement : direct observation phase

Catering units under study were each visited on several full days for a total of between
6 and 21 days . Using an observation technique recommended by Riley et al . (1976),
reinforced by enquiry and measurement where necessary, trained caterers, teaching and
technical staff of the Department of Tourism, Catering and Hotel Administration of
the Dorset Institute of Higher Education, recorded :

(i) The weight of waste generated during preparation, service and from customers'
plates . Both edible and inedible waste was measured together . A qualitative analysis of
waste was performed at Hotel B .
(ii) The average portion weight of each food item served during the day .
(iii) The total number of covers served at each meal during the day .

The following problems were encountered during the detailed observation days :

(i) The trained caterers acting as observers felt that normal working practices were
being distorted as a result of their presence . This was particularly true in Hotels A and
B where it was felt that unusual measures were being taken to avoid waste .
(ii) In Restaurant F the kitchen which served both the food bar and the licensed
restaurant was observed . The long narrow layout of the kitchen and service area in
which two people could barely pass, coupled with staff shortage and extreme pressure
of work at service times meant that it was virtually impossible to record all outgoing
food items without causing unacceptable disruption to the operation .
The dry weight value of the waste was calculated using the means of 12 dry weight
determinations performed on waste collected from Hotel B .
Waste obtained at the end of each observation day was chopped for a standard length
of time (10 min) in order to enable representative samples to be taken . Six samples of
approximately 100 g were randomly taken from the chopped waste and equally divided
between two plastic bags .
The waste was then homogenized in a Stomacher (Seward & Co Ltd, Haverhill,
Suffolk), for 3 min . Three replicate samples from each bag were then individually
weighed into pre-weighed moisture dishes and dried at 110°C for 6 h in a hot air oven .
After cooling the dried samples were re-weighed and the dry weight of the samples
calculated .
The energy value of the dry waste was calculated using a conversion factor of 23 .18
MJ kg - ' dry waste . This is equivalent to 5 .54 k cal g - ' dry waste, the mean of values
obtained by a study of food waste in restaurants and in hospitals (Brown 1978, Elsigood
1979) .
No attempt was made during the observation periods to obtain an accurate record
of the weights of all food items being used in the food preparation areas . An average
energy value for meals being served was obtained by calculating the energy value of
typical meals from lunch and dinner menus offered by the units under study . The energy
values of the ingredients for each menu item were obtained from food tables (Paul &
Southgate 1978) .

2.3 . Indirect observation phase

Measurement of total food consumption and of total food waste was carried out over
a 28-day period .


302 A . J. Youngs et al .

2 .3 .1
. Food consumption*
A full stock taking exercise was performed on day I of the investigation in order to
record all food on the premises at the start of the study . Details of all food entering
the premises during the period under investigation were obtained from invoices . Account
was taken of any items returned to suppliers . A second full stock record was obtained
on the last day of the study . Subtraction of food present on day 28 from that present
on day I plus that entering during the course of the investigation allowed a full record of
food consumption over the 28 days under study to be obtained .
Using food composition tables (Church & Church 1975 ; Paul & Southgate 1978 ;
Paul, Southgate & Russell 1980 ; Wiles et al . 1980) the dry weight and energy value of
this food was calculated . In the case of convenience foods or made-up dishes values
were calculated from the ingredients where these were known on from the closest
comparable dish for which values were obtainable .

2 .3 .2 . Food wastage
All of the establishments studied disposed of waste food via bins which were collected
at regular intervals in the early morning by pig farmers . The quantity of food waste
which excluded onion skins, root vegetable peelings and drinks wastage but included
all other edible and inedible waste was recorded by measuring the volume of waste in
each bin just prior to collection using a dip-stick technique . The mean of these values
was used to calculate a volume of waste (bins were regarded as composed of eight
cylinders the diameter of which increased slightly from bottom to top) and this volume
converted to a wet weight of waste .
The conversion values for Hotel A and Restaurant G were obtained from a series
of volume-weight measurements made in each location . The conversion value for Hotel
B was the mean of these two values . While it was appreciated that the bulk density of
the waste would vary considerably from day to day it was anticipated that measurements
over a total of 28 days would result in differences being minimized .
The dry weight and energy value of the dry waste were calculated as described above .
Accurate customer numbers and staff meal numbers were obtained from Hotels A
and B but were not available from Restaurant F except in the form of the number of
till transactions .

3 . Results

Table 4 shows the results of dry weight determinations carried out on both customer
waste and kitchen waste in Hotel B .
The dry weight value of 34 compares with a value of 12-21 reported by Elsigood
(1979) from a study of waste in hospitals and of 30 reported by Riley et al . (1978)
for "Urban" pigswill .
Information on the quantity of food waste generated from each of four hotels and
four restaurant units as measured by direct observation is given in Youngs et al . (1982) .
Table 5 summarizes this information and records waste generated as a percentage, on
an energy basis, of the average meal served in each unit . The average energy value for
meals in the four hotels of 6 .5 MJ per cover reflects the calculated average for lunch
of 5 .6 MJ (SD 0 .9 MJ) and for dinner of 7 .4 MJ (SD 1 .3 MJ) . This value compares

*The word consumption is used in the catering context, i .e . referring to stock entering a catering operation
and not to stock consumed by customers .


Food waste from hotels and restaurants 303

TABLE 4
Dry weight values for food waste generated within Hotel B

Mean percentage
Number of dry weight and
Origin of waste determinations standard deviations

Restaurant
February 1980 5 32 SD3
June 1980 7 40 SD3
Kitchen
February 1980 5 36 SD25
June 1980 7 29 SD6
Overall mean percenage dry weight 34 SD5

TABLE 5
Summary of food waste generated, in eight hotel and restaurant units over periods of 6 to 21 days

Mean energy Mean energy Mean

Days of Total number loss per per cover percentage
Catering unit investigation of covers cover (MJ) (MJ) energy loss

Hotel B 7 1240 1 .3 6 .5 20
Hotel C 7 1373 2 .15 6 .5 33
Hotel D 21 4638 2 .47 6 .5 38
Hotel E 21 4413 1 .67 6 .5 25
Restaurant F
food bar 6 1816 0 .51 5 .6 9
Self service 6 3952 0 .24
Restaurant G
table service 15 525 3 .17 7 .5 42
Coffee shop 15 574 0 .59

TABLE 6
Energy value for 22 typical meals in hotels and 5 typical lunches in
Thomas Hardy Restaurant, Restaurant G

Number of meals Mean energy value (KJ)

Catering unit determined and standard deviation

Hotel dinner 11 7400 SD 1300

Lunch 11 5600 SD 880
Restaurant G
table service
Lunch 5 7500 SD 1000

with a value of 8 .0 MJ (SD 3 .6 MJ) given by Banks & Collinson (1981) for meals in
the Restaurant, Hotel and Pub section of catering, The energy values for the 22 hotel
meals sampled are given in Table 6 . Table 6 also contains the calculated energy values
for five typical lunches in Restaurant G .
The average loss of energy occurring during meal preparation and consumption
expressed as a percentage of the energy value of the presented meal varies from 20 to
38% within the hotels studied . Energy loss in a student operated restaurant averaged
42% and in a restaurant operated by a large national hotel and catering company loss
304 A . J. Youngs et al .

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Food waste from hotels and restaurants 30 5

averaged only 9% . All these units offered a waitress serviced three course meal with
wine available and thus were operating within the same section of the catering market .
Banks & Collinson (1981) reported an edible waste value of 15 .5% within this sector
of catering using the food dry weight input value as their basis for calculation .
Recalculating their value to express total waste as a percentage of the energy value of
the presented meal gives a percentage waste value of 17 .0% . The values obtained from
the current study are thus somewhat higher than previously reported values, although
both edible and inedible waste has been included in the current study .
In spite of these high waste values it was felt that some effort to artificially reduce
waste due to the presence of trained observers was occurring and thus an indirect waste
assessment procedure was carried out . Table 7 presents the results of this investigation
carried out over 28 consecutive days at Hotels A and B and over the complete operation
at Restaurant F .
The waste values obtained from Hotel B of 29% on a weight basis and 31% on an
energy basis are considerably above the value of 20% on an energy basis obtained by
the direct observation technique . In the case of Restaurant F, however, the value of
2 .5 and 2 .9% waste is below the value of 9% obtained by the direct observation technique .
The value obtained by the indirect technique does however include three other service
outlets within the same complex, all of which offer a less complex menu with fewer
on-site prepared dishes . Banks & Collinson (1981) suggest that waste from snack bar,
a coffee shop and self service type of unit is less than waste from waitress service units
offering an extended menu . [They report edible waste in snack bars of 1 .7, 1 .4 and
4 .2% while Kirk & Osner (1981) give values of 5 .6 and 2 .4% in college refectories] .
A waste value of 27% on a weight basis and 33% on an energy basis from Hotel A
which was not studied by direct observation lies within the range of waste found in
similar hotels by direct observation of between 20 and 38% (Table 5) .

4. Discussion
The values of total waste generated within the hotels studied, agree satisfactorily with
the value of edible waste recovered by Banks & Collinson (1981) . The considerably
lower value obtained from the city centre restaurant complex, operated by a national
hotel and catering company, reflects the fact that nearly all the food items sold were
either pre-prepared or tinned, with a consequentially low preparation component in the
operation . This result supports the suggestion by Banks & Collinson that, as the
percentage of convenience food increases, the percentage of waste generated decreases .
In addition, many of the menu items were prepared in response to a specific customer
order, avoiding the service waste that often occurs with an à la carte menu, when
preparation occurs with less accurate idea of customer numbers (Wenlock et al . 1980)
the low waste value does however imply low plate wastage . This is not unexpected
in an operation which is primarily serving snacks or two course meals to customers
paying specifically for that meal and with a relatively small proportion of children
observed as customers.
At the qualitative level several observations were made about the generation of waste
within the hotel units .
(i) Pre-preparation of breakfast toast proved wasteful .
(ii) There was good re-use of vegetable and meat preparation waste through the
medium of the stock pot .


306 A . J. Youngs et al .

(iii) There was relatively good re-use of unsold menu items by incorporation into
new dishes .
(iv) Difficulty is encountered in relating size of portion to the needs of the consumer
for example men vs women, adults vs children .
(v) There was relatively high wastage of unsold desert items . These were not re-
presented at the next opportunity for aesthetic reasons . Unsold items were often eaten by
staff in addition to their usual meal . An absolute loss of the item may not occur but an
economic loss to the unit is experienced . Procedures could be adopted to allow acceptable
re-presentation of this material . Chilled display would help extend the shelf life of the
product .
(vi) While food waste is lost to immediate human consumption it is used for pig
feeding and thus returned to the food chain .
(vii) A general misunderstanding appear to exist on food as an expensive and precious
commodity . Once the food is purchased and the money converted into materials, these
are liberally treated with excessive trimming taking place, and no alternatives seem to
be planned on a regular basis for the use of by-products within the menu . The need
appears to exist for creating an attitude where food commodities are looked at in
monetary terms .
(viii) The present methods of control within catering operations tend to over-emphasize
clerical and accountability procedures, rather than creating the conditions for an
optimization of food materials once the materials have entered the system . Hotels and
restaurants appear to over-emphasize the concept of quality in menus, associated with
the traditional French Cuisine resulting in large and heavy meals being served, which
often exceed customer's eating capacity .
(ix) Present approaches to staff training tend to over-emphasize quality ideals whilst
little appears to be done in inculcating a sense of responsibility and economic practices
when dealing with food materials .
(x) There should exist a means of determining optimum staff levels within kitchen
practices which should be conducive to promoting a work approach that permits the
optimal use of food products .
The loss of up to 38° of the energy value of the food entering a hotel operation
must be considered undesirable, particularly in the context of wastage in the home
estimated to be 6 .5 of energy intake in the summer and 5 .4 in the winter (Wenlock
et al. 1980) . Considerable reduction of this value can occur by minimizing the amount
of food preparation work being performed in the kitchen and offering a somewhat less
extensive menu as shown by the low waste value from the food bar of Restaurant F .
To change to this approach could, however, change the nature of the product sought
by the hotel customer . Nevertheless, it is felt that modification to catering practices
within the hotel sector are possible without significant product modification, such
changes resulting in less monetary loss as well as less food waste of concern on a
national level . The identification of such modifications, their implementation and
assessment of acceptability to hotel and customers will need additional investigation .
The waste value obtained by the city centre restaurant complex of 3°/ o of food
consumption must be considered to be satisfactory and probably difficult to reduce in
practice in a situation where extreme pressure of work is experienced at peak times,
where portion sizes are already tightly controlled and where company quality control
attempts to ensure good quality raw materials .
This low value must of course be considered together with waste occurring in the
manufacturing stages of the convenience food items used in order to be comparable
 Food waste from hotels and restaurants 307

with waste generation by the traditional catering approach used in the hotels studied .
Examples of overall waste values for such manufacturing processes have been reported
as varying from 12% for canned green beans to 50% for canned carrots and thus are
considerable (Osner 1982) .

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