Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2018, 6th- 8th June, Milan, Italy HAF © 2013 Vol. V, No. 1s ISSN: 2283-3927 l School catering services are characterized by a significant level of inefficiency regarding the food processed but not consumed during meals. This work analyses the meal supply in primary schools in Italy in order to highlight new areas of inefficiency upstream of the food chain. A lack of conformity of food portions with nutritional guidelines can potentially lead to a double negative externality: overweight children and food waste. Data were collected between April and June 2017 from the municipality website of each regional capital (RC) of the 20 Italian regions. From the tendering process for primary school meal provision, data on the portions (in grams) of the most representative food categories were extracted and classified. To evaluate the degree of homogeneity amongst different regions, the average, minimum and maximum values, standard deviations and relative standard deviations of each individual food category were estimated. To verify the adherence to nutritional recommendations, ANOVA was performed for multiple comparisons combined with Duncan's multiple range test, with significance set at a p value < 0.05. The specific benchmarks for the evaluation of meal portion sizes were calculated based on the National Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intake Levels. The results (Table 1) show a great variability of food portions amongst the RCs analyzed. Food categories with highest relative standard deviations values were cooked and raw vegetables (0.29 and 0.35 respectively) that indicate great levels of heterogeneity in food portions amongst Italian regions. Conversely, pasta and rice portions were more uniform (0.10 and 0.13), although on average above than the recommended portion. The only food categories characterized by a smaller mean portion than recommended are fish, raw vegetables and cooked vegetables. The educational role of eating at school can contribute to raising children's awareness about one of the most urgent environmental challenges - food waste - by introducing the best strategies for waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Keywords Portion size, Food waste, Sustainable public procurement, Childhood obesity, School meals. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Marta Castrica marta.castrica@unimi.it JOURNAL HOME PAGE riviste.unimi.it/index.php/haf Meal portion sizes and their potential impacts on food waste: case study of school meals in Italy. M. Castrica1,*, C.M. Balzaretti1, A.Baldi1 1 Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milan, Italy. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en Proceeding of Veterinary and Animal Science Days 2018, 6th- 8th June, Milan, Italy 26 HAF © 2013 Vol. V, No. 1s ISSN: 2283-3927 References Östergren, K., Gustavsson, J., Bos-Brouwers, H., Timmermans, T., Hansen, O. J., Møller, H., & Easteal, S., 2014. FUSIONS definitional framework for food waste. French Parliament. Loi n° 2016-138. Lutte contre le gaspillage alimentaire. 2016; https://www.senat.fr/dossierlegislatif /ppl15-245.html. Società Italiana di Nutrizione Umana, (SINU). 2014. IV Revisione dei Livelli di Assunzione di Riferimento di Nutrienti ed energia per la popolazione italiana (LARN). Available at: http://www.sinu.it/html/pag/tabelle_larn _2014_rev.asp. Table 1: Descriptive statistics of variables. 1 RSD (relative standard deviation) = Std Dev/Mean. 2 Av.Delta Portion= Mean – LARN portion. Food Category Mean (g) Std Dev RSD1 Min Max LARN portion (g) Av. Delta Portion2 Pasta 70.0 6.7 0.10 50 80 56 14.0 Rice 69.5 8.9 0.13 50 80 56 13.5 Bread 55.8 14.1 0.25 40 100 35 20.8 Dried pulses 34.3 9.9 0.29 21 60 35 -0.7 Meat 84.5 18.1 0.21 60 120 70 14.5 Fish 98.5 22.2 0.23 60 120 115 -16.5 Cooked / raw ham 52.3 10.1 0.19 35 75 35 17.3 Cooked vegetables 127.9 37.5 0.29 75 235 140 -12.1 Raw vegetables 101.0 35.5 0.35 35 150 140 -39.0 Fresh fruit 150.5 18.5 0.12 130 200 105 45.5 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en https://www.senat.fr/dossierlegislatif http://www.sinu.it/html/pag/tabelle_larn