Patient menus in New South Wales hospitals

Patient menus in Australian hospitals were studied using two methods: (1) a written questionnaire completed by catering officers from 270 hospitals in new south wales (74% of the hospitals in State), and (2) an examination of the printed menus collected from 128 of those hospitals. Of the hospitals 96% used a fixed menu cycle, most being 14 days in length, and 89% of hospitals allowed patients to select their own menu choices. Most hospitals did not offer more than two hot choices at meals, but larger hospitals provided a wider range of choice than smaller ones. Twenty‐four percent of small hospitals (fewer than 50 beds) using polyunsaturated oil for frying food, while only 7% of larger hospitals did so. Almost all hospitals offered high fibre breakfast cereals and wholemeal bread on the menu, 66% had polyunsaturated margarine as an alternative to butter, and only 25% routinely offered a low‐fat milk option. Highly salted foods made up 13% of main menu items and one in five mainmeal choices could be classified as high in fat. Hospitals employing dietitians had signficantly fewer high‐fat food items on their menus. The percentage of unpopular food items included on the menus ranged from 12% for soups to 21% for desserts. Ten recommendations are made to improve the standards of hospital menus.