Malnutrition still major concern in healthcare, social care sectors

5th August 2011, 10:03am

There are several big trends within the healthcare and social care catering sectors, says Apetito divisional manager Rosemarie Hoyle, with malnutrition the biggest cause of concern.

"And these trends go further than just being an issue of the moment", she says, "they underpin how manufacturers and hospitals look at the entire catering function and what can be done to address these subjects with the provision of frozen food.

"A major ongoing concern within healthcare and social care is the very serious issue of malnutrition, which affects an estimated 150,000 hospital residents in the UK. "The number of hospital patients becoming malnourished has doubled in just three years (13,500) so ensuring that every meal developed is nutritionally balanced is a fundamental part of our product development.

"Every meal is frozen when the dish is at its optimum to ensure that none of the goodness, nutrients or the flavours are lost. We work very hard, directly with ward staff, to ensure that when our meals are cooked they are served to the highest possible standard.

"Another big challenge is addressing patient needs. As the healthcare profession and, we as a catering sector, learn more about conditions such as dysphagia – which affects people who have swallowing difficulties – we continue to look to product innovation to find ways to meet these challenges.

"We have developed an award winning new range of soft and pureed dishes which allow patients to eat food that not only looks like a traditional meal, but tastes like it too, with of course the right nutritional content.

"It's a major breakthrough and has really taken off. It is far easier for staff to prepare than blending food, which is a less appealing option for patients and also has nutritional and safety issues. We've also recently introduced an 'all day catering solution' to include a new range of delicious cakes and sandwiches suitable for patients on soft and pureed diets to eat throughout the day and not just at designated mealtimes."

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