Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the problems related to the purchasing processes of school foodservices that should be corrected for the food service safety, by examining the purchasing processes and the status of supplier selection. A questionnaire was given to 300 dietitians working at self-operated food services. Ninety-eight responses, excluding incomplete answers, were used for the statistical analysis. The survey consisted of three parts: the general characteristics of the school foodservice and dietitian, purchasing processes and supplier selection, and the purchase specifications. We found that 84% of the contract was made by informal purchasing, and the contract period was 6 months or one year. For supplier selection, problems related to the document screening systems were the superficiality of the content(45.7%) and the absence or lack of clarity of the appraisal criteria(34.8%). The important factors for the facility and equipment standards of suppliers were included unclear evaluation methods for content(41.1%) and inappropriate appraisal lists(21.1%), while unclear evaluation methods for content(41.9%) and absence or lack of clarity of the appraisal criteria(20.4%) were the problems pertaining to the supplier evaluation checklist. When using the Food Labeling Standards to select suppliers, confirmation of the sell-by date and the storage method had the highest score at 3.85 out of 5. For supplier selection, only 25% of the contract was made by using the purchase specifications. The levels of satisfaction of with Kimchi and rice cakes suppliers were significantly different according to employment type and educational background, respectively. Depending on working experiences, satisfaction was significantly different for the use of document screening, as a standard for the selection and management of suppliers, and for the facility and equipment standards of suppliers, The use of purchase specifications was different by employment type, while the use of purchase specifications for contracts was different by working experience. These results imply that the specialization of suppliers is necessary to unsure food safety. Therefore, the objective methods to evaluate the suppliers should be developed by the government, and appropriate education programs for dietitians should be prepared to enhance the utilization of purchase specifications.
