4 h mee ing o young esea che s a UP 289
Food handle s’ pe cep ion o minimally p ocessed p oduc s
M. Ba os1 and A. Rocha2
1 Faculdade de Ciências da Nu ição e Alimen ação da Uni e sidade do Po o. Rua D . Robe o F ias
4200 465 Po o. Po ugal. manuelaoba [email protected]
2 Faculdade de Ciências da Nu ição e Alimen ação da Uni e sidade do Po o. Rua D . Robe o F ias
4200 465 Po o. Po ugal. ada ocha@ cna.up.p
Consume s inc easing conce n abou ood and heal h associa ed wi h educed ime o p epa e
meals has been de e mining he sea ch o con enien p oduc s, wi h esh like quali y, namely
ui s and ege ables [1]. The use o minimally p ocessed p oduc s (MPP) allows oodse ice
uni s o o e a g ea e a ie y o menus, educing cos s and minimizing c oss con amina ion. A
he same ime hei inclusion in menus educes he p oblem o seasonali y; and enables
s anda diza ion o menus, sa ing ime and labou o ce [2,3]. Nowadays he e a e s ill ew ood
uni s adop ing MPP, because hese p oduc s a e iewed as being mo e expensi e han
con en ional ones and a e equen ly ega ded by employees, as a e less na u al and easily
pe ishable, bu abo e all, hey ealize ha he use o hese p oduc s en ails a eno a ion o he
en i e p oduc ion o meals, including a educ ion in he numbe o employees in he ac i i ies o
p e-p epa a ion [3,4].
The main goal o his s udy was o iden i y and analyze he le el o awa eness o oodse ice
ope a o s, in espec o MPP. I is a c oss-sec ional s udy wi h an analy ical componen . The
s udy was conduc ed by applying a mul iple choice ques ionnai e o ood handle s.
The majo i y o he ins i u ions included in his s udy we e hospi als, loca ed in he No h o
Po ugal, which cooked and se ed be ween 100 and 400 meals pe day. App oxima ely 90% o
he ins i u ions had less han 10 employees wo king a he ood se ice. 182 ood handle s (180
women and 2 men), we e in e iewed, aged 20-58 yea s. The educa ional le el was on a e age
low, mo e han hal o handle s had an educa ion le el less han o equal o he 2nd cycle o
basic educa ion. Rega ding o employmen s a us, he ood handle s we e o icials o he
Ins i u e and mos pe o ms unc ions o ki chen helpe . All ood handle s esponded ha hei
ood se ice uni used he MPP, poin ing he less ime spen on p epa a ion, he less was e
p oduce and he a ie y o e ed as he main ad an ages o using hem. In spi e o ecognizing
hese ad an ages mos o hem p e e he adi ional ones, highligh ing he easons o his
choice eshness, senso y quali y and he ac ha mo e ope a o s a e needed o p epa e hem.
A p omo ion and a demys i ica ion o his ca ego y o p oduc s is necessa y o ood se ice
manage s and employees, since hey p esen an excellen al e na i e o esh equi alen s.
Re e ences:
[1] Mo e i, C.L. (2001), P ocessamen o Mínimo, Re is a Cul i a , pp. 32-33.
[2] Ragae , P.W.V. (2004), Consume pe cep ion and choice o minimally p ocessed ege ables and
packaged ui s, Food Quali y and P e e ence, pp. 259-70.
[3] Ca dello, H.G.S (2007), Consume pe cep ions o oods p ocessed by inno a i e and eme ging
echnologies: A conjoin analy ic s udy, Inno a i e Food Science and Eme ging Technologies, pp. 73-8.
[4] Ribei o, C. (2002), Análise de pe das em Unidades de Alimen ação e Nu ição Indus iais.
Flo ianópolis: Uni e sidade Fede al de San a Ca a ina.