Foodservice

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The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English)

companies which prepare meals outside the home.[1] It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many other formats.[1]

Suppliers to foodservice operators are foodservice distributors, who provide small wares (kitchen utensils) and foods. Some companies manufacture products in both consumer and food service versions. The consumer version usually comes in individual-sized packages with elaborate label design for retail sale. The foodservice version is packaged in a much larger industrial size and often lacks the colorful label designs of the consumer version.[citation needed]

Statistics

The

fast food restaurants account for 77% of all food service sales, with full-service restaurants accounting for just slightly more than fast food in 2010.[2] The shifts in the market shares between fast food and full-service restaurants to market demand changes the offerings of both foods and services of both types of restaurants.[2]

According to the National Restaurant Association a growing trend among US consumers for the foodservice industry is global cuisine with 66% of US consumers eating more widely in 2015 than in 2010, 80% of consumers eating 'ethnic' cuisines at least once a month, and 29% trying a new 'ethnic' cuisine within the last year.[3][4]

The Foodservice distributor market size is as of 2015 $231 billion in the US; the national broadline market is controlled by US Foods and Sysco which combined have a 60-70% share of the market and were blocked from merging by the FTC for reasons of market power.[5]

Health concerns

Foodservice foods tends to be, on average, higher in calories and lower in key nutrients than foods prepared at home.[6] Many restaurants, including fast food, have added more salads and fruit offerings and either by choice or in response to local legislation provided nutrition labeling.[6]

In the US, the

FDA is moving towards establishing uniform guidelines for fast food and restaurant labeling, its proposed rules were published in 2011 and final regulations published on 1 December 2014 which supersede State and local menu-labeling provisions, going into effect 1 December 2015.[6][7] Research has shown that the new labels may influence consumer choices, but primarily if it provides unexpected information and that health-conscious consumers are resistant to changing behaviors based on menu labeling [7] Fast food restaurants are expected by the ERS to do better under the new menu labeling than full-service restaurants as full-service restaurants tend to offer much more calorie-dense foods, with 50% of fast food meals being between 400 and 800 calories and less than 20% above 1000 calories, in contrast, full-service restaurants 20% of meals are above 1,400 calories.[7] When consumers are aware of the calorie counts at full-service restaurants 20% choose lower calorie options and consumers also reduce their calorie intake over the rest of the day.[7]

Eating one meal away from home each week translates to 2 extra pounds each year or a daily increase of 134 calories and a decrease in diet quality by 2 points on the

In addition; the likelihood of contracting a

H. pylori, Listeria, Salmonella, and Norovirus) is greatly increased due to food not being kept below 40 °F (4 °C) or cooked to a temperature of higher than 160 °F (71 °C), not washing hands for at least 20 seconds for food handlers or not washing contaminated cutting boards and other kitchen tools in hot water.[citation needed
]

Types of service