Infection, Prevention and Control - Nutrition and Food Safety: Bringing food into hospital

General Information

The Trust has a legal obligation to comply with the requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990 and associated legislation relating to the composition, labelling, safety, handling, control and hygiene of food.

The patients' meals we serve everyday are carerfully prepared and designed to offer patients a healthy balanced diet of set selected menus with a range of hot and cold food, drinks and snacks. We consider foods to satisfy cultural needs.

Patients are encouraged to select a healthy and safe food choice with appropriate advice given where required by clinical staff.

We have an obligation to ensure any foods brought into the hospitals are suitable and do not include any high-risk items (please see list). This helps us to prevent or reduce the risk of infection, food poisioning and unwanted interaction with prescribed medication.
 
Any food brought in should be suitable for the dietary needs of the patient. Please help us to help patients by only bringing in food that contributes to a healthy balanced diet.

Any advice regarding the suitability of foods can be obtained from clinical staff.

• On arrival at the ward all food should be checked to see if it requires immediate refrigeration
• Clinical staff will check to see if the food is suitable for the patient and check containers and labelling is in place
• All packaging must be intact with the patient’s name and the use by or best before date not exceeded
• Food that has been sealed by the manufacturer using heat seals, tamperproof lids and bottle tops will be allowed

When we consider food safety, we generally consider food items as HIGH risk or LOW risk.

Guidelines to reduce the risk associated with food brought into the hospitals are identified below:

Brought in – Low risk foods

We consider LOW risk items to be those that are non- temperature sensitive (ambient, shelf-stable).

These are unlikely to cause illness and are considered as a low- risk food group. They can be stored safely at room temperature and normally have a best before date (as opposed to a use-by date). They will have had further processing to reduce any hazards to a safe level.

These include:

• Pre-wrapped biscuits and cakes
• Crisps
• Pre-wrapped sweets and confectionary
• Tinned goods (soup, fruit and vegetables)
• Bread
• Non-alcoholic bottled or canned drinks
• Peeled and pre-packed fruit (dried or fresh)

Brought in – High-risk foods

We consider HIGH risk items to be those which are temperature sensitive and require refrigeration or specific cooking temperatures to reduce the risk associated with food borne illnesses. They will have a ‘use-by date’ and should never be consumed once the date has passed. These foods require strict controls and as such, we would strongly advise that they are NOT brought into our environment for patients.

These include:

• Cooked meats
• Meat products (e.g pies)
• Fish products
• Cream (fresh, synthetic or products containing them)
• Soft cheeses
• Chilled ready meals
• Yoghurts
• Pre-cooked rice
• Pre-made sandwiches (unless manufactured by a reputable source, sealed in the original manufacturers packaging and within use by date)
• All take-away meals

Raw meat, fish or poultry are prohibited and must never be brought on site for a patient.
 
We do not recommend bringing nuts into the ward as there may be other patients who may have a nut allergy. Please ask a member of clinical staff if you are unsure.

If you have any questions relating to Nutrition and Food Safety, please ask a member of the clinical team who will be able to support you.