Strategies to Reduce the Rate of Plate Waste in Hospitalized Patients: A Scoping Review

Abstract

There is evidence that hospital waste is indisputably high, and various strategies have been used to reduce the hospital's rate of plate waste. This study aimed to map the currently implemented strategies in lowering the rate of plate waste in hospitals and categorize the different types of strategies used as interventions, as well as determine their impact based on specific parameters. The scoping review method included a search of three databases using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-SCR). The duplicate articles (n = 80) were removed. A total of 441 articles remained for the title and abstract screening. After 400 were excluded, 41 articles were reviewed for eligibility. Thirty-two full articles were eliminated due to a lack of focus on plate waste evaluation. Finally, nine accepted studies were grouped into five categories: menu modification, room service implementation, menu presentation, meal-serving system, and dietary monitoring tool. In conclusion, results showed that the majority of the studies implemented either of the five strategies to reduce plate waste; however, the cook-freeze system and staff training for both kitchen and ward staff were not yet part of any intervention strategy. The potential of this method should be explored in future interventions.

Keywords: foodservice; hospital food waste; hospital plate waste; malnutrition.

Figure 1

The original preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses for the scoping review process (PRISMA-ScR) flow diagram [20].

Figure 2

Shows the original publication years and countries of included articles (n = 9). Different colors of circles represent the countries. The circles correspond to the number of articles published in the year and the country.