Carnival Magic food waste

We were on the delayed debark Magic last week and in talking to one of the waiters, he told us that 2 1/2 tons is the average waste of food on the 7 nighter. I think of all the poor people who would kill just for a bite or two. I wonder if this is pretty standard ? A good example is the huge basket of pastry they set on out table for two. We do not eat it, so does that go in the pile because it was on our table ? We finally stopped them and said no thanks..

We were on the delayed debark Magic last week and in talking to one of the waiters, he told us that 2 1/2 tons is the average waste of food on the 7 nighter. I think of all the poor people who would kill just for a bite or two. I wonder if this is pretty standard ? A good example is the huge basket of pastry they set on out table for two. We do not eat it, so does that go in the pile because it was on our table ? We finally stopped them and said no thanks..

Welcome to first world health standards -- we watched them pull trays of untouched cupcakes off the buffet, which was closing, they went right into the garbage can. They do not re-use food. :)

No difference from a land based restaurant. Unfortunate...

Not all of it is related to gluttons at the buffet. ;)

If something doesn't go well on the buffet the remaining food in the tray is tossed.

In the MDR it depends on how the food is plated- just want a lobster tail but have to get the whole plate. This should change a bit with the new menu.

Another part is that the kitchen deals with averages. They know that 75% of the pax on board will order lobster. If only 65% do order then the rest of the prepared lobster is thrown away. (Can't use all of it for Lobster bisque.)

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I was on the Sapphire Princess at the beginning of the month. The ship uses the big platters. I was trying to figure out what I liked so I was taking a tablespoon size of this and that. The chef called me out on it. Told him I was testing things to see what I should come back for. He said NO ONE does that.

Not all of it is related to gluttons at the buffet. ;)

 

 

 

If something doesn't go well on the buffet the remaining food in the tray is tossed.

 

In the MDR it depends on how the food is plated- just want a lobster tail but have to get the whole plate. This should change a bit with the new menu.

 

 

 

Another part is that the kitchen deals with averages. They know that 75% of the pax on board will order lobster. If only 65% do order then the rest of the prepared lobster is thrown away. (Can't use all of it for Lobster bisque.)

 

 

 

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I was on the Sapphire Princess at the beginning of the month. The ship uses the big platters. I was trying to figure out what I liked so I was taking a tablespoon size of this and that. The chef called me out on it. Told him I was testing things to see what I should come back for. He said NO ONE does that.

I don't understand, were you in the buffet? Or does Princess now do the big family style platters like Carnival?

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As others have stated, because of the fixed seatings, meals are not prepared to order, and they base things on past statistics. Sometimes they get caught without enough of one thing, and too much of another.

One large area of waste is caused by the USPH regulations. As you've said, the bread placed in a basket on your table must be fresh daily. The food on the buffet line, since they cannot guarantee that it has been kept at 140F while on the food line, is on a 4 hour time control plan. So, 4 hours after coming out of the oven, or the hotbox, it is dumped, this includes things like yogurt containers as well on the food line. Again, because there is no way to guarantee the temperature food has been kept at, nothing is allowed to be left over, or reused/recycled as leftovers as we do at home. Every opened container of food in the galley, except spices, must be marked with a disposal date 7 days in advance (think the chocolate syrup at the soft serve counter). While wasteful (but not greatly so if the galley uses good food cost controls), these measures have virtually eliminated food borne illnesses like e. coli, salmonella, and botulism from the ships.

I would say that for a ship of 2200 pax, and 900 crew, we generated nearly 4-5 tons of food waste per day. Most of that is prep waste and plate scrapings, for sure, but there is one poor guy who is tasked with grinding up the multitude of trash cans of unused food every night.

When I worked in Hawaii, we tried to interest farmers in taking this food waste to use as pig slop, but the big problem is that the FDA requires you to ensure that no uncooked meat is re-introduced into the human food chain. So the food waste needs to be sterilized, which is costly, and the only one I know about is a pig farmer in Nevada who gets all the food from Vegas.

People also wondered about providing unused food to shelters, but this ran afoul of USPH as well, since we could not provide food that was outside of temperature controls for human consumption, even off the ship.

It is a shame, but it's a fact of life for cruise ships.

No difference from a land based restaurant. Unfortunate...

Not sure about that. Some do it, but not all of them

No difference from a land based restaurant. Unfortunate...

A land restaurant can wrap your leftovers, a cruise ship does not do this

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If it makes anyone feel better....on one smaller line I used to work on various staff used to get to make plates at the end of the night and there was NEVER a drop of food left! It was a nice perk and one way to insure that staff was well taken care of. I ate a LOT of Lobster and steak! LOL! They also had it set up when I started (not when I switched lines for the ones coming in later) that for the first week we had one of the lower ranked chefs assigned to us as new crew members. Within reason and with some limitations, for our first week, that person would make sure we had whatever we wanted to eat from the main galley. I think it was a way to ease the employees into the GRUELING days and make sure they were not too overwhelmed the first week to eat! It worked! It also helped us try all of the wonderful food on board. This was an American flagged line. And only approximately 900 pax and 180 crew.

Dawn

A land restaurant can wrap your leftovers, a cruise ship does not do this

 

 

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A land restaurant can also donate to shelters.

I don't understand, were you in the buffet? Or does Princess now do the big family style platters like Carnival?

 

Buffet. Those large platters, no trays on the ship we were on.

But the new menu shared items are probably a way to control waste.

 

 

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A land restaurant can also donate to shelters.

Not all, depends on the local gov't regs. Also, many restaurants won't to do this due to liability issues.

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I have noticed on many cruises that food is treated like leftovers at home. That is to say it is reworked into the next day's meal.

Mom works at a School lunch room years ago she could bring left over home.. Now by law they have to catalog and throw away.. Cant take home anything can't donate cant send home with a hungry kid.. Have to log and throw in the dumpster..

Ive remodeled buffets (big name chains) they pile it in a trash can let it set out in the back all night.. And 1st shift throws away before the dumpster run .. Why you ask.. (I did ask) They don't want people digging threw there dumpster and end up suing for getting hurt or food poision..

We were on Conquest last month and for the sea day brunch we got a huge basket of pastry... we each had one. There were 13 pieces left and I felt so bad.. so much waste. Then we got on Ncl star which had a noro outbreak and they were handing out everything ( salt and pepper also ) ... and they would come by with a tray of bread and ask which you would like .. so there was no waste.

Not all, depends on the local gov't regs. Also, many restaurants won't to do this due to liability issues.

Very true! I worked for a local grocery chain years ago and we were not permitted to donate food to the food pantries because someone sued another chain after getting sick.

Next cruise: Carnival Breeze June 2014

If I paid for it, it's not wasting. Why do people feel they aren't "wasting" food by stuffing it into their mouths? Do people really care if that food ends up in the trash can or the toilet?

A land restaurant can wrap your leftovers, a cruise ship does not do this

 

 

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Old restaurant motto: Todays leftovers are tomorrows soup.

Chum line. ;) Design ships to have a lower deck "trolling station". Sell "ship excursion" tickets for deep sea fishing. There you go: fish get fed; cruise line recovers some of the losses.

If I paid for it, it's not wasting. Why do people feel they aren't "wasting" food by stuffing it into their mouths? Do people really care if that food ends up in the trash can or the toilet?

Huh? What exactly are you trying to say?

I can't remember where I read about it but it said they freeze leftover food, chop into little pieces and drop in to water out at sea.

I don't recall what cruise line or anything but was fascinated as it gets recycled.

Has anyone else heard this and know more details maybe?

I seem to recall them saying some food was ground up and dumped into the sea at the behind the fun tour. I dont remember the parameters.

It also helped us try all of the wonderful food on board. This was an American flagged line. And only approximately 900 pax and 180 crew.

Mom works at a School lunch room years ago she could bring left over home.. Now by law they have to catalog and throw away.. Cant take home anything can't donate cant send home with a hungry kid.. Have to log and throw in the dumpster..

 

Ive remodeled buffets (big name chains) they pile it in a trash can let it set out in the back all night.. And 1st shift throws away before the dumpster run .. Why you ask.. (I did ask) They don't want people digging threw there dumpster and end up suing for getting hurt or food poision..

Freegans dumpster dive for food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism

Not all, depends on the local gov't regs. Also, many restaurants won't to do this due to liability issues.

 

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I have noticed on many cruises that food is treated like leftovers at home. That is to say it is reworked into the next day's meal.

I'd be interested to know what cruise line reworked leftover food, and did you actually see this being done? Due to time and temperature controls set by USPH, this isn't really viable.

For Jldevlin, actually, it made no difference whether the pastry was left in a basket on your table, or they handed out individual pastries, whatever was leftover at the end of the day, and they tend to make set amounts daily, went into the trash.

For those wanting to know what happens to the food, each dishwashing station, and several food prep areas, have large garbage disposals (about 20 times the size of your home one), and the ground food and water are piped to a separator where the food is separated from the water by a strainer screen. The water is recycled back to the garbage disposals, and the ground food waste is collected in a tank. Some systems use a vacuum system similar to the toilets to move food waste from the dishwashers to a central grinding station. The food waste in the storage tank (consistency of oatmeal) is collected and then either pumped overboard at night (fish food), or incinerated along with the paper trash at night.

left overs from the buffet and the dining room gets sent to the working staff in the down stairs dining halls... then what they don't eat they will make soup or broth or do what they can with it ....then it gets tossed....the chefs job is to stretch every dollar out...

left overs from the buffet and the dining room gets sent to the working staff in the down stairs dining halls... then what they don't eat they will make soup or broth or do what they can with it ....then it gets tossed....the chefs job is to stretch every dollar out...

And you know this how? They cannot take left overs from the buffet that have been sitting out for over a certain amount of time and serve to the crew. There are regulations that have to be followed.