Magazine: Fundamental problems in public sector catering

Every day 1.5-2 million eat food prepared by public sector catering service providers. Unfortunately public sector catering often works without relying on the basic facts and knowledge of today’s dietary science. Service providers cook food that requires little human work using preserved ingredients, instead of cooking from fresh regional products. However, it is also true that public sector catering firms often have to provide services to large groups of people in geographically large areas, therefore they tend to focus on eliminating health risks and not on quality considerations. In addition to this competition is fierce, too. All of these factors lead to making food that is rather ‘canned food’-like. With the comprehensive development programme the goal is to create a public sector catering system that is quality-driven. In the first stage an action plan is developed and NÉBIH registers all ingredient suppliers and public service catering service providers. In the second stage, based on the available data, a qualification system is going to be introduced.