FOOD WASTE IN FOOD AND NUTRITION UNITS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Food waste is a very important factor to be analyzed in a Food and Nutrition Unit as it is directly linked to the costs of the establishment and interaction with customers. Considering the negative impact of waste on the management of Food and Nutrition Units and the social-economic problem that includes hunger and the fight against food waste, this study aimed to identify the main factors that contribute to food waste, indicating possible ways to minimize this problem, through a systematic literature review. The search for documents was performed in the internet databases. We selected 15 studies carried out in institutional food services. According to the results we found, distribution was the most wasteful production phase. Thus, the performance of the nutritionist becomes essential in controlling waste at all stages of production, using analysis of the percentage of rests and leftovers, in addition to a good planning, standardization, control of the amount of food produced and periodic interventions that ensure effects in reducing food waste.