Scenario of research on Food Service in Brazil

Cenário da pesquisa em Alimentação Coletiva no Brasil

ABSTRACT

Objective:

The present study aims to investigate the scenario of research on Food Service in Brazil based on the Stricto Sensu Graduate Programs in Nutrition, research groups, and scientific production.

Methods:

A search of the research lines including studies related to this topic and the researchers engaged in those studies was conducted. The research groups were identified on the Directory of Research Groups in Brazil website and the profile of the scientific production was based on articles included in the Scientific Electronic Library Online database. Articles published in international journals that were related to research lines focused on food production were also searched and analyzed.

Results:

The search identified only two graduate programs with research lines that describe the food production as the object of study although 13 graduate programs carry out research related to Food Service, especially focused on nutritional and sanitary aspects of food. The same trend was observed in the national articles. The internationalization of these two research line results from the academic publication in 22 different journals over the past 5 years. Thirty five professors were identified and most of them hold a PhD in Food Science and Technology. The number of research groups increased from two in 2000 to twenty nine in 2010.

Conclusion:

The inclusion of Food Service in graduate programs is still limited. The main trend observed is towards a closer relationship with Food Science and Technology in terms of the lines of research, professional qualification, and published studies.

Keywords:
Collective feeding; Food services; Health postgraduate programs; Science