A comparative assessment of food waste and carbon footprint toward a more sustainable healthcare foodservice

Sustainable catering aspires to reduce the environmental impacts of foodservice by serving nutritional, safe and environmentally friendly meals. However, there may exist a tension between low-carbon diets and food waste reduction, since sustainable meals may lead to greater waste due to a decrease in consumer satisfaction. The research evaluates the global warming potential of the most and least wasted meals served to Italian hospital patients. It reports the results of a three-year comparative assessment of carbon footprint and food waste measurement based on data collected using questionnaires administered to 3408 patients located in nine hospitals, highlighting the nexus between sustainable choices and customers’ satisfaction. On average, food waste at lunch ranges from 8.6% to 13.9%, with the highest peak at 24.6%, whereas at dinner it accounts from 7.0% to 18.4%, with the highest peak at 30.7%. The most wasted foods are eggs, dairy products and pasta. The weekly carbon footprint is 6.9–11.5 kgCO2eq at lunch and 6.4–7.0 kgCO2eq at dinner.