Total Protein Methods and Their Potential Utility to Reduce the Risk of Food Protein Adulteration - Essay Example

Running Header: Improving food and dining services at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Customer Inserts His/her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 25, 11, 2013 1. Introduction The purpose of this proposal to improve the quality of food and the dining services offered in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). It targets the University administration, particularly, the Catering department that offers the dinning services. The quality of food and the dining services directly affect the effectiveness and efficiency of students’ in all areas of their operations including academics (Weise2007). The catering department has to pay attention to the issues that students had risen concerning nutrition as a biological necessity in creating necessary environment for them to attain academic excellence. The sustainability assessment had also addressed the effects of food consumption on the environment and students’ health, hence, the need for improvement for the better. Additionally, the administration has to listen to the issues because it influences the attitude and the mood of the students in their experiences during the learning processes, as well as their response to the teaching techniques (Aaron et al, 2011). In the realization of the necessity of food, excellence demands that the catering department to reassess the current processes and prepare an implementation plan based on the recommendations of this proposal. Ultimately, the indicator of success in the dietary services will be observed from the students’ opinions after the implementation plan is complete. 2. Problem 2.1. Poor Diet In the sustainability assessment, there was a problem of poor diet and slow catering processes in the University’s Catering department. Students claimed to have repeated low quality diets for extended durations and often had to take their meals late. Extended time implies that students will spend more time in the dining hall than usual. The catering department may soon realize the need to increase the space in the dining hall, which is an added problem from the inherent stage. 2.2. High Costs The low quality notwithstanding, students had to pay highly for the food and the services. The low aspects of the service have to be emphasized so that the department can justify the cost of services and food by reciprocating in the provision of the relevant quality. Even so, the sentiments of the catering department team members ought to provide the requirements and the budget of the resources needed for the realization of this improvement (Noland et al, 74). The ramification of this improvement is that the cost of catering services and food prices will rise. To the students and the all the beneficiaries of the services, quality is more important than the increased expenditure. Students at ERAU added the issue of variety in the improvement of food quality. In this, they proposed a wide spectrum of food combinations to improve their health. 2.3. Time Management The third problem that students have is that the time allocation for eating in the dining hall is too short. They have complained and addressed the need to extend the serving hours, especially during the weekend. Many students have complained that the short duration is unsuitable for them. They risk missing the meals due to the cut off time. Similarly, those who succeed to get the meals have to move extremely fast. The service improvement plan must therefore, ensure that all students have their interests served. With extended hours, students will not have to panic in the risk of missing food. Instead, they will have ample time for consuming the quality taste of varieties. 2.4. Low Number of Staff The fact that they serve food late is an indicator that the work overwhelms the present number of staff in the department. The highest demand that students have express is good taste of food at reasonable prices. 2.5. Lack of variety It implies that there are varieties of tastes that they desire to have throughout the week. Students can therefore describe the kind of quality that they require. The catering department ought to consult the students to obtain the desirable tastes for food before committing their efforts to the preparation of food. Very critically, the catering department in ERAU ought to prepare comprehensive plan for the implementation of the services because there are students with allergies for various types of food, an issue that the department cannot ignore. The solution will be generated through a mutual interaction in which students assist the quality requirement description as they prepare the actual services and food varieties. 2.6. Quantity A number of students have complained that they do not get satisfied because of the small amounts of food served to them. Perhaps the reason is that ERAU has underestimates the population of students in their budget and hence the catering department prepares less food than is sufficient for all students (Moore et al, 2010). The administration has to revise its budget and ensure the meals prepared are sufficient for all students. Failure to revise the plans may reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of students in the realization of their academic dreams. 2.7. Health and hygiene The number of sick students in ERAU has been on the rise. Most of the sicknesses have been linked to unhealthy nutrition and poor hygiene. This implies that the catering department has not been ken on the cleanliness of the food preparation environment. This area requires a swift response and its indicator is the reduced incidents of sicknesses. 3. Objectives The objectives of this project are To ensure that there are variety of foodstuff for a mixed quality taste To increase the time allocated for eating in the dining halls To improve on the health and hygiene conditions in the food preparation area, the dining hall and the food itself To increase the quantity of food served to the students To increase the number of catering staff members To reduce the cost of services in the dining hall 4. Solutions 4.1. Time Table ERAU catering department ought to establish the number of students in the university and plan a timetable for all the daily meal for each week (Sayed et al, 2008). The weekly schedule has to keep changing periodically to make sure there is a wide spectrum of food choices. The timetable will ensure that there are no repeats of foodstuffs within a short time. 4.2. Extended Meal Times The catering staff will need to prepare a schedule showing extended hours. If need arises, they will increase the sitting space by extending the dining hall to accommodate the large number of students as they will have to sit for longer hours. 4.3. Increases quantity The catering and accommodation department will have to approach the finance department and present budgetary proposal to facilitate the process of increasing the quantity of food served to students. 4.4. Reduced costs The department will try as much as possible to reduce the costs of serving the meals to the students. It will also have to justify the costs in cases where reduction of the costs has failed. 4.5. Improve Speed of Serving The catering staffs have been serving very slowly, thus inconveniencing students who have very limited time to spend in the dining halls. 4.6. Improved health and hygiene The department of catering in ERAU will develop standard of cleaning in the dining hall and the food preparation area. This implies that food will be inspected to ensure that they do not pose dangers of allergies. 4.7. Increasing the number of staff The number of staff in the catering department in ERAU ought to increase. This is because on the massive workload required inherently, to manage the services and probably the time allocated for serving food. Catering department will have to engage the finance department and the entire administration of the university. Conclusion This proposal aims at improving the quality of food and the dining services offered in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). It focuses on issues experienced in the catering department by identifying the problems and giving recommendations. The problems identified in this case includes, poor diet, high costs, time management, low staff members and lack of variety. The objective is this proposal is to provide solutions to the problems outlined by increasing food variety, increasing time for meals, improving hygiene, increasing food quantity, adding staff members and reducing cost of service in the dining hall. The rationale for the recommendations is to address issues raised by students and also ensure sustainable quality of food in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). References Aaron, Grant J.; Kariger, Patricia; Aliyu, Roselyn; Flach, Marianne; Iya, Dan; Obadiah, Musa; Baker, Shawn K. (2011). "A Multi-Micronutrient Beverage Enhances the Vitamin A and Zinc Status of Nigerian Primary Schoolchildren". The Journal of Nutrition 141 (8): 1565–72. Moore, J.C.; Devries, Jonathan W.; Lipp, Markus; Griffiths, James C.; Abernethy, Darrell R. (2010). "Total Protein Methods and Their Potential Utility to Reduce the Risk of Food Protein Adulteration". Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 9 (4): 330–357. Noland, G. S.; Ayodo, G.; Abuya, J.; Hodges, J. S.; Rolfes, M. A. R.; John, C. C. (2011). "Decreased Prevalence of Anemia in Highland Areas of Low Malaria Transmission After a 1-Year Interruption of Transmission". Clinical Infectious Diseases 54 (2): 178–84. Sayed, Abdul-Rauf; Bourne, David; Pattinson, Robert; Nixon, Jo; Henderson, Bertram (2008). "Decline in the prevalence of neural tube defects following folic acid fortification and its cost-benefit in South Africa". Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology 82 (4): 211–6. Snyder, A (2007). "Protein Pretense: Cheating the standard protein tests is easy, but industry hesitates on alternatives". Scientific American. Weise, E. (2007). "Food tests promise tough task for FDA". USA Today. Read More