(Canadian) Hospital food lacks proper nutrition

[alp227]

This is from Canada, but some may have similar experience in the US.

Hospital food is often criticized for being unappetizing, but dietitians say the processed meals also lack proper nutrition for recovering patients.

Carolyn Thomas of Victoria said she endured poor quality hospital food after suffering a massive heart attack in 2008. She's been in and out of hospital since then and has written about the meals on a blog.

"My first meal in the CCC, which is the intensive care for heart attack patients, was a roast beef sandwich on doughy white bread," Thomas said. "I thought I would be getting veggies and fruit."

...

Food budgets for hospitals "The vegetables are frozen and it is convenient, but they are so waterlogged that they are really not there," said Joshna Maharaj, a chef and healthy food advocate in Toronto. "It is just empty, spongy versions of themselves."

Full: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/06/29/hospital-food.html

[ForgoTheConsequence]

1. Well there you have it.

Socialized medicine doesn't work. What kind of commie third world hospital serves roast beef?

[riverbendviewgal]

2. this is a hilarious reply

USA hospital food is no better. LOL>

[Warpy]

3. It's quite a bit better in some places

I sampled the cuisine of hospitals in NM and Boston both as a patient and as staff. Here in NM, they spice the food up with garlic and green chile so that even large batch, institutional food from frozen sources has enough flavor that the patients will eat it and often look around for more. Sandwiches are on white balloon bread, but whole grain is available on request.

New England was far spottier. Mass. General's food is barely edible, both on the wards and in the cafeteria, unless something has improved them since I left. I ate there off and on for 20 years and it was ghastly. New England Baptist Hospital is not only the place to go for orthopedic care, it also has excellent food served very attractively. Other places are in the middle. All had the calories if the calories were ordered.

The places people are being slowly starved are the nursing homes. Study after study has shown that nursing home meals simply don't have enough calories, even if the patients can be persuaded to clean their plates.