Food Service Objectives

Systems
Understand the different types of food

production and distribution systems

Recognise the different cook chill systems
available

Understand the advantages and
Carmel Lazarus
Nutrition Manager & Consultant Dietitian
disadvantages of different production and
Email: clazarus@tpg.com.au Ph: 0416482199 distribution systems
February 2008 University of Sydney
Acknowledgements: Karen Walton/Associate Professor Peter Williams/Maria
Kokkinakos

Food Service Systems Cook Fresh, Cook/Hot hold,

Cook Serve
Foods are prepared > Held for a short time > Served

Advantages
Disadvantages

‘In house’ quality
Daily, busy meal
control times

Less specialised
Workloads vary
equipment
Production occurs

Less prepared over the whole day,
storage every day

Regional buys
Williams, PG. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1996;
96(5): p491

Cook Fresh Cook Chill

Foods are prepared > Chilled > Hot or Cold
Plating/Retherm

Advantages
Disadvantages

Uniform workflow
Specialised

Menu variety equipment

Reduced
Storage requirements

production costs
Some recipes aren’t

5 day production suited

Area wide menus
Some foods not
Salads, sandwiches, fresh/cold dairy desserts

Quality control
suitable - grills
also in cook chill systems

1
 Equipment Equipment

Long shelf life

Short shelf life

Cook Chill Cook Chill Delivery Systems

Cook Chill Food Service Systems

(Bulk heating, hot plating)
Cook Chill
(Cold plating,
retherm)
retherm)

Williams, PG. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1996;

96(5): p491

2
 Food service systems in NSW
Cook Freeze hospitals (%)
Foods are prepared > Frozen >
1984 1993 2001
Hot or Cold Plating/Retherm (n=270) (n=179) (n=93)

 Advantages  Disadvantages Cook fresh 93 81 54

 As for cook chill  As for cook chill Cook-chill 5 18 42
 Recipe modification - external 6 29
re: thickeners
- internal 12 13
 Thawing step
Combination 2 1 5

Mibey R, Williams P. Food Service Technology 2002; 2:95-103

Food service systems in NSW Manager’s satisfaction with their

hospitals (%) foodservice system Mean rating
(1 = very dissatisfied; 10=very satisfied)
System 1993 2001 2001 2001
Hospital size Cook Fresh Cook Chill
All All <100 beds 100beds +
(beds)
Cook fresh 81 54 77 29
0-24 8.7 8.0
Ext Cook chill 6 29 11 47
25-49 8.0 7.1
Int Cook chill 12 13 9 16 50-99 8.3 6.2

Combination 1 5 4 9 100-249 7.9 5.6*

250+ 7.0 5.8
Total 100 100 100 100
All 8.1 5.9**
Mibey R, Williams P. Food Service Technology 2002; 2:95-103
Mibey & Williams Food Service Technology 2002;2:95-103

Meal plating location – % NSW Meal delivery systems

hospitals % NSW hospitals 2001
Hot delivery systems
1993 2001 2001 2001 Insulated cover and base 34.5
Location All All <100 beds 100+ beds Heated pellet 20.9
Plate cover only 14.3
Hot and cold delivery cart 4.7
Heated bulk food trolleys 1.9
Centralised 96 89 91 87
Total 79.1
Chilled or Frozen systems
Convection ovens 10.5

Decentralised 4 11 9 13 Infra-red ovens 4.8

Microwave ovens 3.8
Conduction heating 1.9
Total 21.0

Mibey & Williams Food Service Technology 2002;2:95-103 Mibey & Williams Food Service Technology 2002;2:95-103

3
 St Vincent’s Campus Distribution Systems
Delivered in Bulk heated using

Centralised Plating
a van
Hot metal
Plated on Site Delivered in bulk
Palliative care & Rehab Plated on site
Wax pellet in base
Mental Health
Insulated plate base & cover

Insulated tray
Delivered in Bulk Heated
Plated on site SVPH Kitchen
Trolley cart with heat/refrigeration
Delivered in Bulk (heated)
Plated on site
Decentralised Plating
Public Hospital
Centrally plated
Bulk food in chilled/heated trolleys
D&A
Delivered in heated and
Refrigerated trolleys

Bulk food in insulated containers

Frozen/chilled food distributed

Centralised System
Distribution Systems cont.
Advantages

Labour saving

Semi centralised – food plated centrally and
Allows meal checking/staff supervision

Economies of space and equipment
distributed for reheating
Saving in overheads – maintenance, fuel, cleaning

Allows batch cooking

Central tray setting
Reduced food waste

Decentralised heating
Reduced noise on wards

Improve menu variety

Specialised Trolleys

Disadvantages

More pressure on staff at meal periods

Must stagger meal hrs

Issues with communication between ward and kitchen

Physical location of some wards impacts on meal aesthetics

Decentralised System
Trends

Advantages

Improve motivation/job satisfaction as FS personnel closer to consumer
consumer
Outsourcing Food Production

Allows last minute changes if food plated in bulk, not for preplated meals

Breaks job tasks down into smaller units so easier to cope with
Room Service

Retail Outlets in Hospitals

Disadvantages
McCafe RPAH,

Difficult to supervise

Gloria Jeans RNSH

Food wastage

Possible reduction in quality if distributed hot/Physical
location of some wards impacts on meal aesthetics

4
 Food Service Systems
Cook Fresh

Cook Chill
NUTRIENT LOSSES

Cook Freeze

Advantages and disadvantages

Types of equipment

Objectives Nutrient losses

Natural vs Processed

Understand the how different cooking • Climate • Preparation, milling
and preparation methods affect the • Soil • Heating
nutrient content of foods • Handling • Drying
• Maturity • Chilling
• Feeding regimes • Freezing
(for animals) • Irradiation
• Genetic • Packaging
• Storage

Why process foods? 6 processing principles that

preserve
1. Raw foods are perishable. Processed to preserve,
pack or for storage (e.g. canned foods). 1. Removing moisture (e.g. drying)

2. To produce a desired product (e.g. baked goods). 2. Treating with heat (e.g. pasteurisation, cook)

3. To prepare food for service. 3. Cold temperature (e.g. fridge, freezer)

Nutrients can be destroyed when food is processed 4. Acidity control

due to:
• Sensitivity to the pH of the solvent 5. Chemical additives
• Oxygen
• Heat 6. Irradiation
• Light and/or any combination.

5
 Effects of Processing Stability of nutrients
Positive vs Negative
• Anti-digestive factors • Reduction of heat
may be destroyed sensitive vitamins

• Increased starch • Vitamins & minerals

digestibility leached

• Bioavailability increased • Reduced availability of

some minerals and amino
acids
• Reduced microbial load

• Addition of antioxidants
Karmas, E & Harris, RS. 1988, p4

Stability of nutrients Critical nutrients

• Losses of 60-100% (Unstable) • Vitamins
Vitamin C, folate, biotin, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin Vitamins A, B6, C, thiamin, riboflavin and folate
Vitamin C and folate most unstable
• Losses of 20-60% (Moderately stable)
Vitamin A, B6, D, E, pantothenic acid • Minerals
Iron, zinc and calcium
• Losses of < 20% (Stable)
Minerals, Amino Acids, Fatty Acids, Vitamins B12 • Dietary fibre
and K

Primary sources of nutrient Processing steps in large scale

losses food service
Animal products Plant products • Purchasing • Chilling
• Thaw drip • Trimming, slicing, soaking

• Storage • Chilled storage

• Cooking drip • Leaching
• Preparation • Reheating
• Leaching • Heat losses
• Cooking • Hot holding
• Cooking & holding losses • Storage

• Texture modification
• Reheating

6
 Processing steps and losses Processing steps and losses
Purchasing (fresh*/frozen/canned*) Preparation
• Can occur with any type. Greater vitamin loss with canned, • Thawing meat can result in significant vitamin losses,
although ‘fresh’ depends on storage time. (e.g. Spinach especially if in water. Using the fridge or microwave is
can lose >50% Vitamin C if at 20°C for 2 days). best.
• Drying causes significant losses, especially as more water
is removed.
• Trimming fruits and vegetables increases losses (e.g.
oxidation).
Storage
• Depends on the time, temperature* and the stability of
temperature. • Soaking* also enhances losses (e.g. leaching). Aim to
• Frozen & canned products can continue to lose nutrients soak or wash for a short time to minimise loss. (Current
(e.g. Vitamin C) in storage, but lower than the initial trend is to utilise pre-prepared salads etc.)
processing losses.

*Significant loss is possible

Processing steps and losses Processing steps and losses

Chilled storage
Cooking** Most losses in this stage • Vitamin C is most labile; has a linear loss with time.
• Boiling causes greater losses than steaming (Consider Speculation about greater loss in long term cook chill, but
water volume used). lack of 02 may influence.
• Grill & roasting have smaller losses than braising. • Overall, losses still lower in chilled storage, than with hot
• Microwaving, stir frying & steaming seem similar when holding.
using with minimal water.
• Baking/frying no significant leaching losses, but greater Reheating
vitamin destruction due to the high temperatures.
Smaller loss with individual microwaving.

Large scale food service, usually mass reheating.
Chilling
Limited data, appears loss is greater when chilled food
• Small losses if chilling is rapid (within 2hrs). Significant heated in bulk, rather than individually- due to the time
losses if extended (6hrs)*. IHHC Guidelines recommend involved?
within 1.5hrs for a gastronorm tray of food.
There appears to be no significant differences in losses in
reheating, considering infrared, convection, conduction..

Vitamin C loss in chilled storage Processing steps and losses

Hot holding**
• Significant losses. Even 30 minutes can cause losses.

• Hot holding should be kept to <90 minutes.

Williams, PG. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1996; 96(5): p492

7
Vitamin C and folate in cook-
cook-chill Vitamin C and folate in cook-
cook-chill
and cook/hot-
cook/hot-hold systems and cook/hot-
cook/hot-hold systems
• After 1 day chilled storage, then reheating results in a
similar effect on Vitamin C to the following hot holding times;
• 91 minutes for Vitamin C
• 87 minutes for 5MeTHF

• Plated and reheated after 3 days of being in chilled storage

would retain ~28% Vitamin C & 58% 5MeTHF.

• In contrast, hot hold for 2hrs resulted in the retention of

~40.3% Vitamin C and 67.7% 5MeTHF.

• If hot hold <90 minutes, vitamin retention is better in a cook-

serve than in a cook-chill system.
Williams, PG et al. 1995: p545 Williams, PG. 1994; p164
Williams, PG et al. 1995

Effects of processing in hospital Loss of Vitamin B6 in hot

catering holding
• Riboflavin & niacin fairly stable

• Thiamin usually less than 10% loss, for up to 2hrs

• Vitamin C is lost rapidly

• Vitamin B6 is lost
• Minimum loss of 10% after 1hr
• Vitamin C losses increase over the 5 days of storage. • Up to 40% at 3hrs
• Losses increase with hot holding time. ‘Ideal’ 30 mins.
• Awareness of where losses occur, enables better planning. Williams, PG, 1996
West, A et al. 1998; p285

Percentage losses after canning

Nutrient Folacin B1 B2 B3 B6 C
Asparagus 75.2 66.7 55 46.6 64 54.5

Canned, Frozen and Fresh Carrot 58.8 66.7 60 33.3 80 75

Corn 72.5 80 58.3 47.1 0 58.3

Tomato 53.75 16.7 25 0 - 26.1

Karmas, E & Harris, RS. 1988: p344

8
 Percent carotene retention in Percent ascorbic acid retention
stored canned foods in stored canned foods
Temperature 10°C 10°C 18°C 27°C Temperature 10°C 10°C 18°C 27°C
Months 12 24 24 24 Months 12 24 24 24
Apricots 94 91 84 76 Apricots 96 94 90 56

Carrots 94 90 95 91 Pineapple 100 83 78 53

Peaches 95 75 64 63 Peaches 98 98 80 53

Spinach 91 80 80 81 Asparagus (Gr) 97 93 91 86

Tomatoes 94 75 75 74 Beans (Gr) 92 88 81 74

Karmas, E & Harris, RS. 1988: p345-347
Karmas, E & Harris, RS. 1988: p345-347

Vitamin C in fresh & frozen

Peas
vegetables
Pea s
Peas, Broccoli, Green beans, Spinach, Carrots
mg/100g vitamin C present

35
30
25
Day 0 Garden fresh 20
15
Day 3 Ambient Day 3-7 Ambient 10
5
0
Day 2-3 Chilled Day 3-7 Chilled
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Favell, DJ. Food Chemistry, 1998: p59-64

Broccoli Spinach
Broccoli Spina ch
mg/100g vitamin C present
mg/100g vitamin C present

90 30
80 25
70
60 20
50 15
40
30 10
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Type and tim e of storage Type a nd tim e of stora ge

9
 Thiamin content of frozen steak
(mg/100g)

Constant Fluctuating
Temp (+ 1°C) Temp (+ 5°C)
Initial 3.0 3.0

-10°C 2.8 1.8

-20°C 2.9 2.1

-30°C 3.0 2.6

Karmas, E & Harris, RS. 1988: p561

Karmas, E & Harris, RS. 1988, p308

Method of cooking broccoli vs

Irradiation
phenolic compound contents
• Uses
• Compared the influence of
cooking methods on phenols in • Controls insects in spices, herbs, nuts &
broccoli. 150g broccoli, 150ml grains
water • To reduce the level of bacteria in meat
• (A) High pressure 3 min
• Minimise sprouting in fruits & vegetables
• (B) Low pressure 5 min
• (C) Steaming 3.5 min
• (D) Microwaving 5 min • Influence on nutrition
• Similar vitamin losses to heat processing
Microwave > Highest losses? • No significant impact on carbohydrates,
Overcooked
protein and minerals
Steaming superior- short time & no
water contact • May increase fat oxidation
Vallejo, F et al. 2003: p1515

Further research required on Blanching & freezing on bioactive

phytochemicals & antioxidants compounds in vegetables
Effect of processing on major flavonoids  20-30% losses of antioxidant activity & total
in onions phenolics

Significant (50%) reduction with peeling &  Up to 30% vitamin C lost with blanching
chopping

90% of quercetin (flavonoid) is in the 1st & 2nd  Up to 50% folate lost
layers
 Carotenoids & sterols stable

Fairly heat stable thereafter
Puupponen-Pimia, R et al. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2003:
Ewald, C et al. Food Chemistry, 1999: p231-235 p1389-1402

10
 Recommendations to maximise
nutrient retention
Dry Goods
 Store dry goods at <20°C
In Summary Fresh goods
 Minimise the time stored
 Shop 2-3 times per week, if possible, to optimise
the retention of the nutrient value and appearance
 Protect from heat and light
Stable refrigeration temperature
 Always wash before use

Recommendations
Recommendations
Frozen foods
 Keep freezer temperatures stable
Know where losses occur and plan accordingly
 Thaw in the refrigerator

Include a variety of foods in your day that are
Preparation rich in critical nutrients
 Cut foods just prior to service (e.g. fresh fruit for vitamin C, legumes and
green leafy vegetables for folate)
Cooking
 Cook larger vegetable portions
 Restrict the time for ‘hot holding’
 Use minimal water to cook vegetables
 Consider steaming, microwaving and stir frying

References References
Ewald, C, Fjelkner-Modig, S, Johansson, K, Sjöholm, I and Åkesson, B. Effect of processing
on major flavonoids in processed onions, green beans, and peas. Food Chemistry 1999;
64(2): p231-235 Vallejo, F, Tomas-Barberan, FA and Garcia-Viguera, C. Phenolic compound contents in
edible parts of broccoli inflorescences after domestic cooking. Journal of Food Science
Favell, DJ. A comparison of the vitamin C content of fresh and frozen vegetables. Food Agriculture 2003; 30: p1511-1516
Chemistry 1998; 62(1): p59-64
West, A, Walker, A and Lawson, J. The effects of food processing in hospital catering
Hunt, C. Vitamins in institutional feeding. Journal of Micronutrient Analysis 1990; 7:p193-206 systems. Conference Proceedings of ICCAS 98-Culinary Arts and Science II Global and
National Perspectives 1998: p283-289
Karmas, E & Harris, RS. Nutritional Evaluation of Food Processing (3rd edition). New York:
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc; 1988. Payne-Palacio J, Theis M. West & Wood’s Introduction to Foodservice (9th ed). Prentice
Hall; 2001.
Light N & Walker A . Cook-Chill Catering Technology and Management. Elsevier Applied
Science: Barking; 1990. Williams, PG. Vitamin retention in cook/chill and cook/hot-hold hospital foodservices.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1996; 96(5): p490-503
Mibey R & Williams P. Food service trends in New South Wales hospitals, 1993-2001. Food
Service Technology 2002; 2:95-103.
Williams, PG, Ross, H. and Brand-Miller, JC. Ascorbic acid and 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate
losses in vegetables with cook/chill or cook/hot-hold foodservice systems. Journal of
Puupponen-Pimiä, R, Häkkinen, S.T, Aarni, M, Suortti, T, Lampi, A.M, Eurola, M, Piironen,
V, Nuutila, A.M, Oksman-Caldentey, K.M. Blanching and long-term freezing affect various Food Science 1995; 60:p541-546
bioactive compounds of vegetables in different ways. Journal of the Science of Food and
Agriculture 2003: 83(14): p1389-1402 Williams, PG. Food in Hospitals. PhD thesis. 1994

Puckett, RP. Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions (3rd edition). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass; 2004.

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