The edible plate waste of patients were examined at 11 hospitals in the UK during a period of three consecutive days including breakfast, lunch and evening meal. The mean plate waste left by patients was 14% of the weight of the food served. Mean breakfast plate waste was significantly lower than those of lunch and dinner. The survey showed that 55.8% of all patients surveyed left some of their food. At the same time, a questionnaire survey was used to determine the view of patients of key aspects of the hospital foodservice system. The majority of female patients surveyed indicated that they left a proportion of their food because the portion size was too large, whereas male patients indicated that low appetite was the primary reason.

No abstract