While hospital meals are designed to meet the nutritional requirements associated with illness or surgery, competing priorities often take precedence over food quality, contributing to poor patient satisfaction, in-hospital malnutrition, and high food waste. The environmental impacts of hospital food services are a less well-characterized dimension of this complex problem. A prospective cohort study of patients admitted for select abdominal surgeries between June and October 2021 was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Canada. Greenhouse gas emissions and land-use impacts associated with all food items served were estimated, and patient food waste was weighed for each meal. Patients’ experience of hospital food was measured at discharge. Nutrition was assessed by comparing measured oral intake to minimum caloric and protein requirements. On average, food served in hospital resulted in 3.75 kg CO2e/patient/day and 6.44 m2/patient/day. Average food waste was 0.88–1.39 kg/patient/day (37.5–58.9% of food served). Patients met their caloric and protein requirements on 9.8% and 14.8% of days in hospital, respectively. For patient satisfaction, 75% of overall scores were lower than the industry benchmark, and food quality scores were inversely correlated with quantities of food wasted. Redesigning inpatient food offerings to feature high-quality, low-emissions meals could lessen their environmental impacts while improving patient nutritional status and experience.
Determining patient satisfaction, nutrition, and environmental impacts of inpatient food at a tertiary care hospital in Canada: A prospective cohort study
