DOMAIN IV – FOOD AND NUTRITION SYSTEMS
TOPIC B – Purchasing, Production, Distribution, and Service
3. Food production control procedures
a. Standardized recipes
1) Essential for quality and quantity control
2) Important responsibility of production manager
3) Required for food cost and selling price to be correctly calculated
4) Use only specific ingredients in known amounts to yield a definite quantity
5) Must be retested when a small change is made in an ingredient
- Ex: substitution of frozen vegetables for fresh in a recipe for beef stew
6) Advantages of using standardized recipes:
- promote uniform quality and quantity of menu items
- increase productivity of managers and cooks
- save money by controlling overproduction and inventory levels
- simplify menu item costing
- simplify training of cooks
- introduce a feeling of job satisfaction
- reduce anxiety of customers with special dietary needs
7) Methods of recipe adjustment
a) Factor method
- change ing amounts to wt measures using whole #s and decimals
-divide the desired yield by the recipe yield to determine the
conversion factor
- multiply all recipe ing by the conversion factor
- reconvert the decimal unit back into lbs, oz, qt, and cups
- round off amounts to quantities simple to weigh/measure
b) Percentage method
- convert ing from measure or lbs and oz to tenths of a pound
- total the wt of ing in a recipe after each ing has been converted to
weight in the EP
- calculate the percentage of each ing in the recipe in relation to the
total wt
- check that the ratio of ing is in proper balance
- establish the wt needed to provide the desired # of servings and
should be in relation to pan size, portion wt, or equipment capacity
- cooking or handling loss must be added to the wt needed and may
vary from 1% - 30%, depending on the product
- multiply each ing percentage # by the total wt to give the exact
amount of each ing needed
c) Direct reading measurement tables
- simple, quick, no mathematical calculations required
- use of these allows adjustment of recipes with a known yield in
one of the amounts indicated to desired yields divisible by 25
b. Ingredient control
1) 2 major aspects: ingredient assembly (ingredient room) and standardized recipe
2) By limiting access to ingredients, over- and underproduction of items can be
eliminated, thus controlling costs
3) With centralized ingredient control, cooks can focus on production tasks, and
the simple tasks of pre-prep can be assigned to less-skilled workers
4) The primary function on the ingredient room is to coordinate assembly,
pre-prep, measuring, and weighing of ingredients to meet both production
needs and the advance preparation needs of recipes for future meals
5) Ingredient room should be located between the storage and production areas
6) Scales are the most essential pieces of equipment for an ingredient room
7) Ingredient control begins with purchasing, receiving, and storage of food and
continues through forecasting and production
c. Portion control and yield analysis
1) Achievement of uniform serving sizes is important for cost control and for
customer satisfaction
2) The key steps in ensuring portion control are purchasing by exact
specifications, using standardized recipes, and using proper tools and techniques during all aspects of production and service
3) Portion control is knowing the size and yield of all pans, dishers, and ladles.
A # is used to indicate the size, which specifies the # of servings per quart
when leveled off…
Ladle equivalents
Weight / Measure / Portions per Quart (scoop #)1 oz / 1/8 cup / 32
2 oz / ¼ cup / 16
4 oz / ½ cup / 8
6 oz / ¾ cup / 5
8 oz / 1 cup / 4
4)The AP (as purchased) wt of meat, fish, and poultry decreases before being
cooked for many reasons, such as the removal of skin andbones or trimming
of fat. What results is the EP (edible portion), which is the weight of a menu
item without skin, bones, and fat after it is cooked.
Ex: Yield of a chicken breast (skin and bones) = 66%
If a 4-oz grilled boneless skinless chicken breast is desired, a
6.1-oz breast with bones and skin should be purchased…
4-oz EP ÷0.66 = 6.1-oz AP
5) Cooking and handling loss may vary from 1% to 30%, depending on the
product. When preparing food in quantity, these losses can have a
cumulative impact on the yield, or # of portions available from a recipe.
d. Forecasting production
1) The primary result of forecasting should be customer satisfaction.
2) The foodservice manager is also concerned with food cost.
3) Overproduction generates extra costs because the salvage of excess food items
is not always feasible. Leftover prepared food spoils easily and requires
extreme care in handling and storage. Attempts to reduce overproduction costs
by using leftover high-priced food as an ingredient in a low-cost menu item
reduces profits.
4) Underproduction can increase costs as much as overproduction.
Underproduction may involve both additional labor costs and often the
substitution of a higher priced item.Furthermore, customer satisfaction
decreases.
5) Types of forecasting models:
a) Time Series Model
- assumes that actual occurrences follow an identifiable pattern
over time
- most suitable for short-term forecasts in foodservice operations
- moving average model- takes the average of the # of portions sold
for the last five or more times as the first point on the trend line.
The second point on the line is determined by dropping the first #
and adding the most recent # of portions sold to the bottom of the
list and then taking another average.
- exponential smoothing model- similar to moving average except
it does not uniformly weigh past observations. Instead, an
exponentially decreasing set of weights is used, giving recent
values more wt than older ones.
b) Causal Model
- assumes that an identifiable relationship exists between the item
and other factors, including selling price, # of customers, market
availability, and almost anything else that might influence an item
- high cost to develop and use causal models
- popular for medium- and long-term forecasts
- regression analysis models – involves dependent variable (item
being forecasted) and independent variables.
c) Subjective Model
- used when relevant data are scarce or patterns between data do
not tend to persist over time
- forecasters rely on opinions and other qualitative information
- Delphi technique – involves a panel of experts who individually
complete questionnaires on a chosen topic and return them to the
investigator. Results of the questionnaire are summarized and
returned to the panel for revision until a simple majority
agreement is reached. It can be time-consuming and expensive.
e. Production systems
1) Conventional foodservice
- Traditionally used in most operations. Foods are purchased in various
stages of processing, and production, distribution, and service are
completed on the same premises.
2) Ready prepared foodservice
- Also uses foods with varying degrees of processing, and the amount of
production depends upon the state of the purchased food. Menu items
are rapidly chilled after production and are stored either chilled or frozen
to be readily available at any time for final assembly and heating for
service. Challenges are retention of microbiological safety, nutrient
content, and sensory qualities of food, requiring monitoring of critical
control points.
3) Commissary foodservice
- Foods are purchased with little or no processing but are processed
completely in the central facility. Menu items generally are transported
in bulk to satellite service centers in the local area.
4) Assembly/Serve foodservice
- Completely processed food items are purchased and only storage,
assembly, heating, and service functions are performed in the operation.
High labor cost and a shortage of competent employees have led to the
use of these foodservice operations.
f. Production scheduling
1) The time sequencing of events required by the production subsystem to
produce a meal. It occurs in 2 stages:
2) In the planning stage, forecasts are converted into the amount of each menu
item to be prepared and the distribution of the food products to supervisors in
each work center.
3) In the action stage, a supervisor prepares a production schedule on which each
item is assigned to a specific employee and the start time for preparation is
recorded.
5. Service
a. Type of service systems
1) Centralized
- In this method, food is produced, portioned, and plated in the central
kitchen and dispatched to the patient units where trays may be served
either by foodservice staff, nursing staff, or a pt services aide (PSA).
- Advantages: lower food, labor, and equipment costs because the majority
of production occurs in the central kitchen. In addition, there is
supervision of tray assembly so that portion sizes and accuracy of the
items placed on the tray may be better controlled.
2) Decentralized
- In this method, food is prepared in the main kitchen and then distributed
in bulk in a heated cart. The cart is moved to pt floors and the food is
portioned and plated in a galley on the unit. Some foods which require
last minute prep such as eggs and toast can be produced in the galley.
The tray is delivered to the pt as soon as it is served. The temp of the
food is very good because of rapid service.
- Disadvantages: It is a costly way to produce trays because of food, labor,
and equipment costs. More food than necessary to serve the pts is likely
to be sent to each unit to assure that the server will not be short. Skilled
staff who can prepare short order items and who know all of the modified
diets are needed to cover each unit. Galleys have griddles, coffee
makers, dish machines, and a variety of other expensive equipment.
b. Measurement and documentation of client/customer satisfaction
1) Sensory evaluation has been used to measure reactions to food by asking
individuals to rate menu items on various dimensions like flavor, appearance,
temperature, and portion size.
2) Plate waste, or the amount of food left on a plate, is a method used as a
measure of food acceptability.
-Observation is a method that requires trained observers to estimate visually the amount of plate waste. Self-reported consumption is another technique for measuring plate waste in which individuals are asked to estimate their plate waste using a scale.