The health care foodservice industry has experienced many changes over the last 30 years owing to the changing demands of consumers, advances in technology and economic pressures (Greed, 2001). Historically, the provision of food to patients was the responsibility of each individual hospital, which had its own kitchen facilities. Food was cooked and plated and served hot, in what is known as by the cook-serve or the conventional system. This system has required a substantial labour input and has always created tension arising from the necessity of working within tight schedules, while at the same time achieving high quality standards. Since the 1970s, advances have been made in foodservice systems with the introduction of the ready foodservice systems (hybrid and cook-chill systems), in which the cooking of food was followed by a rapid chilling or freezing for subsequent reheating and service. The real relevance of these systems was in the “decoupling” process by which food production can be carried out separately from food customer demand, either in terms of time, or place or both. In Australia, Bankstown hospital was the first to introduce the cook-chill system in 1971, followed by Lidcome and Royal North Shore hospital in the mid 1970s. Owing to technological change in the late 1980s and early 1990s there has been a significant expansion in the use of cook-chill systems throughout the different states of Australia. The 1990s saw further changes with a number of food production units established to centrally prepare meals and have them delivered to hospitals (NSW Health, 2006).