Food Service Technology最新文献

The cleanliness of plates and dishes washed in two different types of machines was investigated. Both machines were one-tank dishwashers; one of them used water and detergent, the other used plastic granules, water and detergent as the cleaning medium. The mechanical effect of plastic granules, water and detergent cleaned the dishes better than water and detergent alone. For easily removed soil, as characterized in the international standards ANSI/NSF 3 and DIN 10512, both dishwashing machines resulted in clean dishes. Dishes covered with a more adhesive soil were clean only after washing in the granule-assisted washer. The importance of cleaning plates and dishes, in order to avoid cross-contamination and the spread of infection, is discussed.

The aim of the research reported here was to analyse palatability. In the first part of the study, renowned chefs in the Netherlands were interviewed about their most successful dishes to search for ‘common denominators’. In total 18 chefs were interviewed and 63 dishes were analysed. Six product characteristics were found that were present in at least 80% of the described dishes: (i) name and presentation fit the expectation; (ii) appetizing smell that fits the food; (iii) good balance of flavour components in relation to the food; (iv) presence of umami, also called the fifth basic taste; (v) in mouthfeel a mix of hard and soft textures; and (vi) high flavour richness. It was hypothesized that palatability is determined by the presence of each of these culinary success factors (CSFs). In a second study, a Michelin-star chef was asked to develop three series of dishes each with a specified main ingredient. Every series consisted of one dish based on the CSFs and two variants, in which systematically one of the CSFs was left out, under the condition that the dish was still restaurant-worthy. In a tasting these nine dishes were served to a group of 26 experienced restaurant guests. In the tasting, the dishes in which most CSFs were united were preferred to the variants. It is concluded that the formulated CSFs can help chefs in the development of new dishes and improvement of existing ones.

The research presented in this paper focuses on the service performance of the staff in à la Carte restaurants, and how this could influence the meal experience from the customers’ point of view. Following a mainly grounded theory approach, the empirical material that formed the background for this article was five focus group interviews of restaurant customers from the cities of Oslo and Stavanger in Norway. The participants represented persons from different lines of work. Payment is initially considered here as a component of the meal, and the results indicate that payment represents an important part of the service aspect. Hence, payment operations represent the main component within the last stage of the meal experience. When customers experience the payment process in an unsatisfactory way, it can have a negative effect on their meal experiences as a whole. This could in turn have a negative impact on the customers’ incentive to revisit the particular restaurant or even other restaurants. Payment ‘just in time’ as perceived by the customers can have a positive effect on the number of customers in the restaurant in the long term. The data analysis uncovers nine specific aspects of payment that are important to the customers. A conceptual model is developed to show the process from raw data to results.

The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional quality of the food supply in Croatian boarding schools and to provide suggestions aimed at its improvement. The work is based on a nutritional survey and nutrition optimization. The survey assessed the food supply in female, male and co-educational boarding schools in Zagreb, Croatia. Particularly, the diets of students aged 15–19 years were investigated and the relationship between students’ anthropometric measurements and the supply of energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates was analysed. Based on the survey results, nutrition optimization was applied to determine diets meeting the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) of selected nutrients at least cost. The survey showed that the diets provided in Croatian boarding schools are generally characterized by an oversupply of energy and fat to female pupils and an undersupply of many micronutrients to pupils of both genders. This seems to promote the development of obesity in female students. Furthermore, it could be shown by means of nutrition optimization that the nutritional situation in the boarding schools could easily be improved by a reasonable selection and combination of dishes that would also lead to a reduction of food costs. Menu planning by means of nutrition optimization could help to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply in Croatian boarding schools and simultaneously decrease the corresponding food costs.

This paper proposes a new model for competitive service quality improvement (CSQI) which is applied to a case study in the fast-food industry. Current and competitive service quality levels are considered for improving competitive service quality using current service quality levels measured by the SERVQUAL instrument with a ratio-score scale. Competitive service quality is analysed by customer assessment relative to each service attribute. Subsequently, the entropy method is used to quantify competitiveness. The value of each attribute's entropy indicates the relative importance of the attribute for CSQI. Finally, the attribute priorities are determined by the combination of current service quality level and entropy value. Empirical testing of the model on a fast-food case study indicates the importance of using the current service quality level and competitive performance indices simultaneously within a CSQI model.

The infected food handler can be responsible for the transmission of infectious intestinal diseases (IID) caused by foodborne pathogens. It is believed that personal hygiene practices with varying levels of complexity can help prevent foodborne pathogens from entering the food chain. Overall, it has been difficult to reach a consensus among stakeholders on precisely which intervention measures should be employed in food handling environments to effectively reduce IID rates. Through a study of over 300 reports of outbreaks attributed to ill or asymptomatic food handlers, hazards and contributory factors responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks were identified. With the use of the risk analysis software platforms of Analytica^®, @Risk, and GoldSim^®, models were created to explore measures of hygiene effectiveness. Through the use of appropriate models, results of various personal hygiene intervention measures were explored for the development of preventive management strategies, designed to improve food-handling practices at various levels of the food chain. These included exclusion of ill food handlers, vaccination for hepatitis A virus, handwashing combined with drying, wearing of gloves, and use of instant hand sanitizers and fingernail brushes. This was accomplished by modeling pathogen transfer and transmission routes from food handler via foods, beverages and common contact surfaces using GoldSim^® and Monte Carlo simulations. A lottery model was also created to understand risk as an interrelated overlapping extremes driven system, comprised of the three components of hygiene frequency, efficacy and cross-contamination. Data gaps were identified with respect to areas where considerable variability and uncertainty exists in order to establish research priorities.

A food safety and sanitation course was developed and administered using two different educational methods: traditional classroom style and distance education via CD-ROM and the Internet. A research project studied the differences between participants taking the distance education course and those taking the traditional course. Success of the participants was evaluated using several different measures: comparison of pre-/post-test, pass/fail of a United States nationally recognized food safety examination, and test score of the United States national food safety examination. Fifty individuals participated in the study: n = 22 in the traditional group and n = 28 in the distance education group. Data were analyzed using Statistical Power for the Social Sciences (SPSS). All participants took the nationally recognized food safety examination. Bivariate analyses revealed no significant association between the method of education and the national examination score. The data indicate that more highly educated people may choose a distance education course. Number of years employed in food service significantly influenced test scores among all participants. Distance participants who passed spent more time using the CD-ROM (57% spent > 10 h) compared to those who failed (25% spent > 10 h). The audio and Internet components were more useful to those who passed. Participants who passed in both groups were more likely to list English as their primary language (100%). Of those who failed, 26% listed a language other than English as primary. Data indicate that distance education is a viable method of training food service professionals in food safety and sanitation. The Distance Education Course is available through the University of Connecticut and may be accessed at http://www.team.uconn.edu/foodsafety_course/index.htm. Distance education courses in food safety are available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The project was funded in part by a United States Department of Agriculture Integrated Food Safety Grant.