Restaurantes de instituições públicas de ensino: um olhar sobre desempenho ambiental e condições higienicossanitárias

Abstract

Institutional food services must guarantee the provision of safe and quality food for users and at the same time be environmentally responsible with the use of natural resources. This study aimed to evaluate the environmental performance and the hygienic-sanitary conditions related to the production of meals in Institutional Restaurants (IR) of public education in a state of northeastern Brazil. The research was characterized as exploratory descriptive of a transversal/observational nature, performed in six restaurants of public education institutions, 3 university restaurants and 3 restaurants of technical high school institutes. Environmental performance was assessed using an instrument that addressed the use of water, electricity, gas, chemicals and waste management. For the evaluation of hygienic-sanitary conditions in the IR, a checklist was used, including facilities, processes, documentation and records regarding good food handling practices. The results showed that, in relation to environmental performance, all IR reached a percentage score classified as good or very good (60.5 to 86.5%). Waste management and use of electric energy obtained the best and worst average percentage of adequacy, respectively. In relation to hygienic-sanitary conditions, the average of the general adequacy of the IRs ranged from 47.3% to 91.7%, with the item documentation and registration having the lowest adequacy in all restaurants