Food Service Technology最新文献

Changes in the eating habits of young people in Europe and the resulting growth in obesity and overweight are giving cause for concern. The Council of Europe in 2001 decided to establish an ad hoc group consisting of national experts to review the issues. Since then the group has studied current school food practices in Europe in order to be able to issue guidelines targeted at international, national, local and institutional levels. A survey was undertaken on behalf of the Council of Europe and World Health Organization (WHO, European Office) as a starting point. The study was an update of a previous survey carried out in the process of developing the ENHPS healthy eating in school manual and the results were presented at a forum held by the Council of Europe in collaboration with the WHO entitled The European Forum on Eating at School – Making Healthy Choices on the 20th and 21st November 2003. In addition, a number of experts from a range of professional backgrounds, all with a common interest in healthy eating in schools, were invited to present research results and discuss the way forward. The results from the forum have since been compiled into a forum report. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the findings of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools group and its implications for school food service in the future; to discuss, in general, how schools can become a more active arena for the promotion of healthy eating, and how food service can contribute in this respect. The results present an overview of how food provision is organized in primary and secondary schools, at home, outside the school, lunch boxes, kiosk type outlets, vending machines, cash cafeterias and canteens as well as ‘special food promotions’. Data on how school food is financed and operated are presented together with the findings on future consumer demand. The findings and their implications for school food service operators are discussed. Barriers include improving logistics, reviewing the healthiness of food provision, the use of vending machines, involving stakeholders, complying with standards, integrating food and nutrition issues in the curriculum and giving due attention to future consumer demands. In conclusion, the paper presents guidelines on healthy eating at school issued by the Council of Europe on the basis of the forum and the work done in the ad hoc group.

This paper explores the relationship between organizational culture and the performance of managers in the restaurant industry. We also introduce the managers’ job efficacy and commitment to the organization as variables intervening between organizational culture and performance. Data were collected in a restaurant/fast food operation which included franchisees as well as employed managers. Results suggest that there are relationships between culture and manager's efficacy and organizational commitment, and that some cultural aspects are related to performance variables such as personnel cost and additional sales. In addition, managers’ commitment and efficacy are also related to performance.

Food hygiene practices in industry have been the subject of much debate over recent years, and various studies have been undertaken which have focused upon the relationships between actual practices and the level of knowledge of caterers and their attitudes towards food safety. Food hygiene training is central to ensuring that food handlers are aware of the risks endemic to certain sectors of the industry and that they implement appropriate good hygiene practices in their workplace. This paper reflects upon some of the studies and issues concerning food hygiene training. Serious doubts are raised regarding current approaches to such training and its effectiveness in changing the behaviour or practices of food handlers and managers. New food safety legislation is due in the near future, but it would appear that food hygiene training requirements will remain as they are. Will this be a missed opportunity?

The European food service market was estimated, in 1999, to be worth US$293 billion with high profit margins and a growth rate of 2.75%. Future demand for value-added products and high levels of customization will stress the issue of keeping profit margins in the food service industry. Packaging is a critical issue, because it adheres to the product throughout the entire food service supply chain. Package design influences the efficiency of the entire chain in terms of functions, features, information and cost aspects. The purpose of this study was to explore the demands of value-added packaging in the food service sector and was carried out in the UK. The study shows that there are opportunities to improve packaging solutions to fit better with food service needs. The study also indicates a lack of understanding in the food service sector and that packages can actually add value to the products. Suggested opportunities in package development are presented.

The success of franchise systems is usually explained by referring to franchisees’ incentives, that is, residual claims to profit and empowerment through delegation. This paper focuses on possible psychological and social dimensions of franchisees’ incentives by investigating franchisees’ and employed managers’ self-efficacy, system commitment, and system conformity performance. In the explorative study, we found that franchisees were significantly more committed than employed managers, but we were not able to discover any differences between operational managers employed by franchisors and franchisees. This paper discusses various theoretical understandings of franchisees’ incentives and discusses possible explanations of how and why franchisees’ incentives affect their employed managers.