Quality management and characteristics of fresh food by the Nutrition Department at Hat Yai Hospital, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province Quality management and characteristics of fresh food by the Nutrition Department at Hat Yai Hospital, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province

Abstract

          The research aims to study the following: 1) To study the process of managing the quality and characteristics of fresh food by the nutrition team at Hat Yai Hospital, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province. 2) To develop a stock management system for fresh food products by the nutrition team at Hat Yai Hospital, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province. 3) To investigate the level of acceptance of production food staff and personnel of the nutrition team at Hat Yai Hospital, Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, towards the quality management process and characteristics of fresh food by the nutrition team. The population is personnel of the Nutrition Group. Hat Yai Hospital, 53 people. A sample size of 47 people. The research instrument was a questionnaire used to analyses confidence levels, with a confidence level criterion of 0.75 or above, resulting in a confidence level of 0.965.

          The study found that: 1. The process of managing the quality and characteristics of fresh food consists of 6 aspects, including; 1. Specifying the characteristics of fresh food, 2. Procurement of fresh food, 3. Inspection of fresh food upon receipt, 4. Storage of fresh food, 5. Dispensing of fresh food and 6. Food preparation. 2. A stock management system for fresh food was developed by defining operational procedures to control the quality and characteristics of fresh food by the personnel of the nutrition team. This system consists of 6 operational steps, utilizing various forms to control all 6 aspects. 3. The overall level of acceptance of production food staff towards the stock management system for fresh food was high ( = 3.79, S.D. 0.79). Upon analyzing each aspect, it was found that: The storage of fresh food had the highest level of acceptance (=3.32, S.D. 0.47). The inspection of fresh food upon receipt (=4.17, S.D. 0.63). The food preparation (=4.12, S.D. 0.62) also had a high level of acceptance. Lastly dispensing of fresh food (=3.38, S.D. 0.76), procurement of fresh food (= 3.37, S.D. 0.74), and characterization of fresh food (= 3.35, S.D. 0.73) had a moderate level of acceptance.