The HCI Board Meeting will be hosted by the IHHC as part of the IHHC International Conference in which will be held in Queensland, Australia, September 10th -12th. HCI members will also present educational sessions.
More info >
HCI Benchmarking
HCI Chair John Patison has provided a PowerPoint show, Apples to Apples - Benchmarking for the HCI community. How can we as an organisation collect and compare data? See the PowerPoint at http://www.hciglobal.org/news.html
Contact John with your ideas at: John.Patison@sjog.org.au.
All association profiles are now available from the member associations page.
Malnutrition – overweight – under nutrition – food contamination – they are all important issues when it comes to the health of people. Standards are set for all issues – energy and nutrient intake as well as for hygiene. These standards are necessary tools in order to prevent and cure illness and to increase the quality of life for individuals who are depending on everyday food and meals cooked and served by professionals. But standards alone are not enough because food will only become nutrition when it has been eaten!
Millions of people in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, kindergartens etc. around the globe are every day receiving meals not prepared by themselves or somebody in the family, but by food professionals. The public opinion about these meals is often less positive even if the food professionals do their very best to prepare quality meals.
These customers (patients, elderly, children, etc.) do not demand high gastronomy with 3 stars in the Michelin Guide. They want decent everyday dishes. It is also a well known fact that the same food tastes differently depending on where and with whom it is eaten.
In order to identify “the Pleasant Everyday Meal” the Danish Diet and Nutrition Association invited 35 distinguished people with knowledge and opinions about food and meals to a “Summit on the Pleasant Everyday Meal” in May 2007.
The outcomes of the summit were 6 values that together characterise the Pleasant Everyday Meal:
- Confidence
- Proper Attention
- Well Prepared
- Well Tasting
- Variation
- Attentive Professional Presence
1. Confidence is created by knowing:
- what the meal is made of
- who cooked the meal
- when the meal was cooked
- that it is possible to speak to a food professional
- that there is a choice to enable you to eat a meal that you like
- that the meal is nutritious
- that the meal is safe and hygienic
- that you can eat the meal in safe surroundings
- that you have influence
2. Proper Attention must be on:
- time to cook, time to develop, time to enjoy, time to be involved
- planning the menus for the right people (young, old, sick, obese, undernourished, different culinary traditions, etc.)
- the surroundings. Are they cozy and homely or cold and clinical? Are they quiet or noisy? Are they clean or dirty? Do you like the people at your table or are you uncomfortable with them?
3. A Well Prepared Meal is characterised by:
- good craftsmanship
- knowledge about the cooking processes
- careful and thorough treatment of the raw materials
- job satisfaction
- passion, enthusiasm, and love of good food
4. A Well Tasting Meal:
- tastes according to the culinary traditions
- has a good balance between sweet, sour, salt and bitter components
- has a smell that is consistent with the meal
- has the right texture
5. Variation:
- according to seasons
- in taste, colours, texture, ingredients
- in table arrangements
- in events
6. Attentive Professional Presence:
At all meals a dining host should be present — Somebody who pays attention to the meal. This role could very well be fulfilled by food professionals who take pride in ensuring:
- that the customer gets the right food
- the meal is served at the right temperature
- that the meal is being served with the right side-dishes
- that the meal has the right portions
- that the customer liked and enjoyed the meal
Over a 3 year period from 2007 till 2010 the Danish Diet and Nutrition Association will focus on the project, “The Pleasant Everyday Meal”. The Danish Diet and Nutrition Association is a professional association and trade union for food professionals such as administrative dietitians (foodservice managers), clinical dietitians, and healthcare cooks.
The agenda will be set among the public, among the politicians, among the different groups of professionals who are working with healthcare, and certainly among the members with the following aims:
- Enhanced health and quality of life of the customers
- Enhanced professional self-respect among the members of The Danish Diet and Nutrition Association.
- Enhanced public respect for the knowledge of Diet and Nutrition-professionals and the result of their work – the everyday meal.
There will be professional activities for the members and public events for all ages. The events are planned around the whole country.
Also, a major event outside the country is planned: From 14 June till 14 September 2008, members of the Danish Diet and Nutrition Association will be serving examples of pleasant Danish everyday meals in the café of the Danish Pavilion at Expo Zaragoza 2008 in Spain.
During April and May 120 enthusiastic members are attending special master classes to enable them to meet the challenge. Each of these members will work one or two weeks in Zaragoza, and they are expected to return home to their working places as ambassadors and facilitators of “the Pleasant Everyday Meal”. For more information about Expo Zaragoza 2008 see www.ebst.dk/exponewsletterarticlesjanuary/75903/1/0
In 2010 we will know a lot more about the success of our project.
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