Beef Usage and Dietitians' Perceptions of Beef Quality in Institutional Foodservice

The purpose of this study was to compare the usage of beef and foodservice managers' perceptions of beef quality by foodservice type. A survey was conducted on 546 dietitians, and 499 acceptable responses were used for data analysis. By weight, pork was the most used meat in foodservice institutions, followed by poultry and beef. More than half of the foodservices selected meat suppliers by competitive bidding. Approximately 85.8% of the respondents used Hanwoo beef, followed by Australian beef and Youku beef. Beef type differed significantly by foodservice type (P<0.001): most of the schools and social welfare facilities used Hanwoo beef, whereas most hospitals and business/industry operations used Australian beef. When purchasing beef, safety of beef was rated the most important, while eco-friendliness was rated the least important. Most of the dietitians understood that marbling is one of the determinants of the beef quality, but were not aware of other components. Dietitians that selected Hanwoo and Youku beef were more satisfied with quality, taste, nutrition, freshness, country of origin, package, customer, preference, and availability for various menus than those who used imported beef. Dietitians who used Hanwoo beef were the most satisfied with country of origin, whereas the others were the most satisfied with safety. Since the dietitians are in charge of planning menus and selecting meat suppliers at foodservice institutions, they should make knowledgeable decisions by understanding meat supply systems and quality of beef.

Perception of Youku (Domestically Produced Holstein Steer) Meat among College Students Majoring in Food and Nutrition Studies

A survey was conducted to determine the perception of youku meat among college students majoring in food and/or nutrition. The survey participants were located nationwide, and the responses from the 2,454 students were analyzed. More male and higher grade students answered that they had heard about youku while only 20.0% had learned about Youku from class. Approximately 37.8% of the subjects recognized youku as 'dairy cattle which are too old to produce milk', 54.0% as 'all cattle grown for the purpose of meat', and 23.1% as 'all cattle except for Hanwoo'. Only 37.4% recognized youku correctly. Compared with the same quality grade, 25.3% recognized youku meat as being cheaper than imported beef, and only 25.6% of them recognized that youku meat has less fat than imported beef. As much as 83.3% of subjects did not know whether or not they were served youku meat, and 23.7% of subjects wanted increased availability of youku meat. As much as 22.9% of subjects opposed the increased use of youku meat, and the reasons were "it does not taste good" (18.1%), "it is not Hanwoo" (15.1%), "it is not sanitary" (13.1%), and "it is imported" (6.0%). The findings provide basic information on barriers regarding youku meat promotion among subjects who will be dieticians in food service or managers in purchase departments of catering companies in the future.