© 2006, The Authors 135 Journal compilation © 2006, Blackwell Publishing Journal of Foodservice, 17, pp. 135–142 Blackwell Publishing IncMalden, USAFRIJournal of Foodservice1524-8275Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2006 2006173135142Original ArticleNutrient content in peas served to patientsC. Feldman et al. Original article Nutrient content in peas served to patients: vitamin C is degraded during four stages of foodservice processing at two hospitals Charles Feldman, Goutam Chakraborty, Taraneh Hazhin, Shannon Kane, Martin S. Ruskin, Jeffrey Toney and Shahla Wunderlich Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences & Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA Abstract This investigation follows seminal work on nutrient degradation as the authors seek to quantify how much vitamin C, as a marker of nutrient quality, is retained at various stages of processing (frozen, steamed, trayline and delivery) of peas at two New Jersey hospitals. Healthcare providers use nutrient data standards provided by various national and international gov- ernment and nongovernment agencies. Physicians, dietitians and menu plan- ners rely on these values for nutritional therapy. We found that the current methodology for predicting nutritional outcomes of cooked foods in hospi- tals may not be reliable in assessing nutrients served to patients. Sampled peas were found to contain significantly (P < 0.05 for both Hospitals A and B) less vitamin C compared with the published standard value (‘cooked’) for vitamin C. In Hospitals A and B, the nutrient quality of vitamin C was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) as peas progressed to patients. As improved nutritional status has been shown to correlate with faster healing and recov- ery, thus reduced hospital stays, we recommend that hospitals use improved cooking methods to reduce the loss of nutrients in foods served to patients. Vegetables in particular should be cooked for the briefest period of time or at the lowest temperature that ensures safety. Introduction Hospital dietary professionals routinely use pub- lished standards directly, or indirectly through vendor software, as a predictor of nutrition in foods served to patients. A therapeutic dietary regimen is presumably obtained, through the con- sumption of meals based on nutrient reference databases. Nutrient data standards provided by various national and international government and nongovernment agencies are used directly by healthcare providers or through vended software packages. These include the Souci-Fachmann- Kraut (2005) nutrition database in Germany, Health Canada’s (2005) Canadian Nutrient File, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA 2006) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, which use comparable nutri- ent reference values. Physicians, dietitians and menu planners worldwide rely on these or similar databases for nutritional therapy. The ascribed nutrient values, however, do not take into account the handling, holding and delivery methods that vary compared with the published models of a cooked, finished, product. Nutrient data stan- dards were ostensibly derived from experiments Correspondence: Dr Charles Feldman, Food Management, Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Montclair State University, One Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07042, USA. Tel: 973-655-6987; Fax: 973-655-7042; E-mail: feldmanc@mail. montclair.edu Keywords: nutrient, vitamin C, foodservice, hospital, patient, peas