The Purposes of this article were to review school meal programs and school food safety practices in USA and to draw up improvement plan of school foodservice in Korea. American school meal programs are composed of national school lunch program(NSLP), school breakfast program(SBP), special milk program(SMP) and summer food service program(SFSP). More than 29 million children receive meals daily. School districts and independent schools that choose to take part in the NSLP get cash subsidies and donated commodities from the USDA for each meal they serve. In case of NSLP, around 59% of the participant students are benefited from free or reduced price. According to the U.S. Government Accounting Office, outbreaks of foodborne disease in schools are rare, but appear to be increasing in incidence proportional to overall increases. School outbreaks tends to comprise a greater number of large outbreaks and this shows a similarity with the foodborne disease trend in Korea. School districts, federal agencies, and state and local agencies in USA use or suggest useful food safety practices for school meal programs. They told that four of these practices had the potential to enhance the safety of school meal programs. The four practices are (1) employing key foodservice personnel who are trained and certified in food safety practices, (2) implementing a risk-based approach for safely preparing, storing, and serving foods, (3) purchasing precooked or irradiated meal and poultry products, and (4) applying the more stringent purchasing specifications that USDA uses when purchasing some of the food commodities it donates to schools.
Breakfast ; Child ; Disease Outbreaks ; Food Safety* ; Food Services ; Foodborne Diseases ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Lunch ; Meals ; Milk ; Poultry Products ; United States Department of Agriculture

The study was conducted to assess sanitary concepts of employees and needs of HACCP-based sanitation training program for elementary school foodservice operations. Subjects consisted of 370 foodservice employees. Foodseervice employees' demographic characteristics were surveyed, and their food sanitation knowledge was tested. Food sanitation knowledge included 4 dimensions of foodborne disease & food microbiology; sanitary management in food product flows; personal hygiene management; and equipment & facility sanitation management. The data were analysed using the SPSS package for descriptive analysis, t-test and ANOVA test. The average sanitation knowledge score was 9.5 out of 15. The working periods of foodservice employees were singificantly(p<01) related to food sanitation knowledge dimensions. Correct answering rate of 4 sanitation management dimensions were 74.4% in foodborne disease & food microbiology; 536% in sanitary management in food product flows; 78.7% in personal hygiene management; and 50.5% in equipment & facility sanitation management. 6 items in 4 sanitation knowledge dimensions under mean score were identified. Those items were temperature danger zone, thawing method of frozen foods, cooking & holding temperature, proper sampling & storage methods, proper storing methods in refrigerator, and proper washing & sanitizing method for utensils. Identified 6 items were included in 12 critical control points developed for the elementary school generic HACCP plan, and should be emphasized in implementing HACCP-based sanitation training program.
Cooking ; Education* ; Food Microbiology ; Foodborne Diseases ; Frozen Foods ; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points* ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Sanitation*

This research was performed to evaluate the effects of nutrition education on food waste reduction at school food service. A dietitian conducted nutrition education on environmental protection and proper eating attitude and poor eating habits for 3rd and 5th graders at an elementary school in Seoul. The effectiveness of the education was evaluated by surveying the students before and after the education; 375 responses were analyzed. A questionnaire was designed to compare changes of the students' attitudes and plate waste before and after education. Plate wastes of boiled black rice(p<0.05), potato soup(p<0.05), amaranthus herb salad(p<0.01), and cabbage kimchi(p<0.05) decreased significantly after education. Students' eating attitudes improved significantly(t= -6.22, p<0.01) after nutrition education. Major reasons the students did not eat all foods they were served were large portion sizes (30.59%), low menu preference (29.79%), and tastes (17.82%). The menus with high plate waste rates were cooked vegetable items (35.64%) and soup items (26.6%). After education, students' attitudes on 'food waste pollutes the Earth(p=0.013)', 'food preparation for birthday parties(p<0.01)', and 'restaurant selection for eating out (p<0.01)' changed significantly. After education, plate waste and portion sizes that the students perceived were not negatively correlated. In conclusion, nutrition education on proper eating habits and source reduction is an effective method to reduce food waste generation and to improve students' eating attitudes and awareness on environment.
Amaranthus ; Brassica ; Natural Resources ; Eating ; Education* ; Food Services ; Humans ; Nutritionists ; Portion Size ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seoul ; Solanum tuberosum ; Vegetables

The purpose of this study were to assess main management components that can lead to successful university foodservice operations. Specifically, it was intended to develop the tool which assesses the service quality, management, to assess the difference between customer importance from and perceptions of service quality, to compare management perceptions of customer importances with actual service delivery, and to identify internal problems which affect service quality with the use of gap model. Three types of questionnaires were developed and implemented for customers, foodservice personals and foodservice manager. Assessment tools were developed based on the literature review, SERVQUAL, GAP model, and the pilot study. Through the validity and reliability test, the questionnaires were revised. Questionnaires were distributed to 900 university students, 207 foodservice personnels, and 54 foodservice manager respectively. 831 university students, 177 foodservice personnels, and 48 foodservice manager were responded with a response rate of 92.3%, 85.5%, and 88.8% respectively. Statistical data analysis was completed using the SPSS programs for descriptive analysis, ANOVA. and SNK test. The results of this study can be summarized as follows : 1. In quality service management components, 31 quality service attributes were categorized and named into primary quality, secondary quality, hygiene, empathy, tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, and price by the factor analysis. 2. Importance mean score of customers was 4.02 out of 5, but perception mean score of customers was 2.55. So there was a relative big gap(1.47) between importance and perception scores, especially in three dimensions of responsiveness, primary quality, and hygiene. 3. It showed that customers' mean scores of perceived service quality by dimensions were the following order : price > reliability > secondary quality > hygiene > tangibles > primary quality > responsiveness > empathy. And the perception mean score of rented(2.59) or contracted(2.58) management was significantly higher than that of self-operated(2.48). 4. Customers' importances mean score which internal customers recognize was 4.23 out of 5, but service delivery mean score was 3.85. So there was a little gap(0.39) between management perceptions of customer importances and actual service delivery. 5. In gap model, SERVQUAL score showed -1.47, Gap 1 positive 0.15, gap 2 negative 0.61, and gap 3 was positive 0.19. 6. The internal problems were as follows ; (1) The managers of University foodservice perceived well enough the customers' expectation value but their management competency was lacked in terms of responding customer needs, (2) The foodservice staff perceived service performance more highly than service quality specifications.
Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Empathy ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Pilot Projects ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Reproducibility of Results

This study was conducted to evaluate the industry foodservice management practices and to suggest guidelines for the effective foodservice management. The survey for the analysis was conducted through the questionnaires to dietitians. They were divided into two groups: the site color worker and the blue color worker. The questionnaires were received for a response rate of 73.2%. Statistical data analysis was completed using the SAS programs for descriptive analysis, chi-square test, T-test, F-test, and Fisher's LSD. The results of the study can be summarized as follows: 1) The level of education of dietitians and food cost in the employee feeding operations for the blue color worker was lower than the employee feeding operations for the white color worker. 2) The labor productivity indices were not significantly different according to types of workers. But in the employee feeding operations for the blue color worker, full-time foodservice employees worked more than 10.7 hour per week than their counterpart. This indicates the full-time foodservice employees in the employee feeding operations for the blue color worker performed more loaded work compared to the employee feeding operations for the white color worker. 3) Equipped rate of facilities in the employee feeding operations for the blue color worker was low especially in the food preparation and cooking processes.
Cooking ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Education ; Efficiency ; Lysergic Acid Diethylamide ; Nutritionists ; Surveys and Questionnaires

This study compared he importance of food service, views to the performance, management objectives, and recognition gap about the contract contents towards the dietetic departments of hospitals that manage the patients' food service and managers of contract managed companies, and dieticians. It conducted questionnaires and survey towards the vice director and dieticians of 17 hospitals, over 500 beds, and the persons responsible for contract managed companies and dietitians who were in charge of food service. The hospitals showed significantly(p<0.05) higher the importance scores in menu planning, the distribution of meal, sanitation management, and leadership than those of the contract managed companies. In the difference of hospitals and contract managed companies about performance, it appeared high in the contract managed companies. In the importance of the foodservice management objective, the hospital had significantly(p<0.05) higher scores in the management of client's satisfaction and quality improvement element through management innovation than those of the contract managed companies. In the importance of contract term, the contract method, expense, and payment condition of commission fee were significantly(p<0.05) high scores in the contract managed companies, compared to the hospital.
Fees and Charges ; Food Services ; Humans ; Leadership ; Meals ; Menu Planning ; Nutritionists* ; Quality Improvement ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sanitation

The Purposes of this study were to assess high school students' nutrient consumption at the ordinary time and to analyze nutrient contents and nutrition consumption of lunch. The questionnaires for self-reported food consumption were distributed to 210 students enrolled in a boy's high school and a girl's high school located in Seoul area. A final response rate was 87.1%, excluding responses that had significant missing data. Data of self-reported food consumption and BMI(Body Mass Index) were analyzed with descriptive analysis and t-test using SPSS Win(ver. 12.0). To measure the serving size and the waste amount, data were collected for three meals in a three day period at each school. A weighed plate method was employed to measure plate wastes and consumption of the menus served. Nutrient analyses for the served and consumed menus were performed using CAN-PRO. The result of nutrient intake determined by self-reported food consumption demonstrated 74.2% of boys and 70.0% of the girls did not meet EAR(Estimated Average Requirement) for calcium. In addition, the data collection showed that 60.2% boys and 26.7% girls did not consume EAR for Vitamin B1. Nutrient analyses of the served and consumed menus at school lunch were compared with 1/3 of the Dietary Reference Intakes(DRIs) for this age group. The served menus did not meet 1/3 of the Recommended Intake(RI) for calcium, iron, and vitamin B2. In contrast, the menu provided to students exceeded almost five times(490%) more than the sodium needed for 1/3 of the Adequate Intake(AI). Considering the amount of the students' plate waste, intake of vitamin A and vitamin C were below 1/3 of the RI, and calcium, iron, and vitamin B2 intake were also reduced. Students' sodium consumption still exceeded 1/3 of the AI at 340.0%.
Ascorbic Acid ; Calcium ; Data Collection ; Ear ; Humans ; Iron ; Lunch ; Meals ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Riboflavin ; Sodium ; Thiamine ; Vitamin A

Seven constructs of sanitary management :time temperature, storage, cross-contamination, personal hygiene, equipment facility and documentation management were evaluated to investigate the perceived performance of sanitary management for school food service managers, Using a four-part questionnaire containing the seven constructs of sanitary management HACCP program, demographic information and characteristics of food service facilities participants rated their self-perceptions regarding sanitary management. Of the 550 possible respondents, 248(45.1%) completed the study. For the perceived sanitary manage-ment variables, the participants rated them between 2.66 and 4.16(5-point Likert scale). Temperature management presented the lowest performances while storage management showed the highest. The number of years of work experience of the food service managers and the serving location correlated significantly to sanitary management variables. Documentation management was also highly correlated to the other sanitary management constructs. The respondents ranked the managers leadership and professional knowledge regrading HACCP as most important, followed by the facilitys supporting equipment and human resources second, to successfully implement the HACCP system at the school food service facilites, Awareness of this study indicating low performance on temperature management suggests an active training program is needed for sanitary management of school food service.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Education ; Food Services* ; Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Leadership ; Self Concept ; Seoul*

The nutrition knowledge and food attitude of obese children were assessed and compared with their normal children counterparts to provide information for nutrition education programs. One hundred forty six obese children and 92 normal children from the fourth to sixth grade in Bucheon and Anyang elementary schools of Kyeong-gi Province were selected for the study. A multiple choice questionnaire, including 12 items of general nutrition knowledge and 13 items of weight control, were used to test the nutrition knowledge of children. The results of this study are as follows : 1) 57.5% of male and 40.9% of female obese children had experience with weight control, but the rate of correct answers on the nutrition knowledge test ranged from 53% to 58%, which does not show any significant difference between the two groups. The rate of correct answers on items conrerning 'general nutrition knowledge' and 'nutrition knowledge for weight control' did not show any significant difference among the two groups. 2) Obese male students showed a higher rate of correct answers(59.2%) on items of 'the proper food selection for obese children', compared with their counterparts and also obese female students showed a higher rate of correct answers(88.6%) on 'physical exercise', compared with their counterparts. 3) The rate of correct answers on nutrition knowledge of 'basic food groups', 'the functions of iron and vitamins', 'the concept of energy', and 'the principle of weight change' were lower than 40%. 4) The obese children frequently did not have breakfast, overate during lunch in many cases, and had low recognition on knowledge that was necessary to weight control. 5) Only 30.9% and 22.7% of male and female obese children replied that they would participate in weight control programs. However, 53.6% of males and 68.2% of females did not show any concern in participating the programs. From these results, it was suggested that it is necessary to motivate the obese to participate in weight-control program. When developing nutrition education programs for the obese, the contents of the questions that showed a low correct answering rates should be emphasized.
Breakfast ; Child* ; Education ; Female ; Food Habits* ; Food Preferences ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Iron ; Life Style* ; Lunch ; Male ; Pediatric Obesity ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The purpose of this study was to assess students' preference on set menus served in school foodservice. Questionnaires were distributed to 4,050 students enrolled in 34 middle and high schools located in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Gyeongnam provinces. The students were asked to assess their preferences on 78 set menus using a 5-point Likert-type scale(1 : very dislike - 5 : very like). Excluding responses with significant missing data, usable responses were 3,433. Data were analyzed with descriptive analysis, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. There was no difference between middle and high school students in terms of set menu preferences. On the other hand, there was significant difference between boys' and girls' set menu preferences. Among the seven given set menu groups(rice and soup with side dishes, tangs, rice with toppings, fried rice, western foods, noodles . ddeokguk . dumpling soups, and bibimbaps), boys had higher preference scores for the rice and soup with side dishes, tangs, rice with toppings, and fried rice than that of girls. Fried rice set menus were chosen to be boys' favorite menus while western food set menus were most preferred by the girls. Rice and soup with side dishes set menus were least preferred by both boys and girls.
Analysis of Variance ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hand ; Humans ; Questionnaires ; Seoul