Thesis supervisor: András Bittsánszky
Location of studies (in Hungarian): NJU- Budapest Abbreviation of location of studies: NJE
Description of the research topic:
The market players in the catering sector make significant efforts to ensure that the food they provide is safe. This is necessary both due to regulations and to maintain consumer trust. However, to establish proper service, attention must be paid not only to safety but also to quality. While entrepreneurs ensure food safety and quality with management tools, the efficiency of management systems depends on the food safety culture. Food safety culture exists at the organizational level and influences food safety performance. Food safety culture primarily relies on the knowledge, attitude, and practice of food handlers.
Child nutrition is subject to some level of legislative regulation in most European countries. The general aim of legislators is to provide healthy and civilized meals for children. However, regulations do not always achieve their goals, as children may not consume the food prepared for them. Consequently, they may need to supplement their diet from other sources (which are often unhealthy), and the leftover food is likely to become waste.
During the research, we examine how the knowledge, attitude, and practice of workers involved in child nutrition, as well as the organization's food safety culture, influence the quality of service, consumer satisfaction, and the quantity of generated waste. We investigate the role of food safety culture in ensuring that child nutrition fulfills its task, namely providing children with age-appropriate healthy and nutritious food and ensuring that children actually consume the food provided to them.