ABSTRACTThirty hospitals in Sydney were surveyed to compare the normal cooking methods and warm‐holding conditions of vegetables prepared in cook/chill versus cook/hot‐hold foodservice systems. Times and temperatures during cooking, holding and service were measured for one day in each hospital. Most hospitals used steamers to cook potatoes, pumpkin and carrots, but other vegetables were usually boiled. In hospitals using cook/chill foodservice systems the cooked vegetables were held at high temperatures (above 50C) for significantly shorter times than in hospitals with cook/hot‐hold systems (49 vs 72 min; p<0.001). In cook/chill systems, however, the vegetables underwent longer periods of holding between 10 and 50C during cooling and meal plating (mean 157 min), compared with 16 min in the cook/hot‐hold hospitals (p<0.001). The substantial time that vegetables in cook/chill hospitals were exposed to temperatures between 10 and 50C could have an adverse effect on nutrient retention and further research is