Hospital Food: An Open Rant

[AriesIV]

Dear Hospital Food Service:


First of all... let me say I am grateful for three meals and a light snack. I admire the fact that you are able to prepare all kinds of meals for all kinds of dietary restrictions. Truly you folks have an impressive level of efficiency and very skilled workers.

However. Is it strictly necessary to remove ALL THE FLAVOR from my food? I realize my medical condition requires me to restrict the intake of certain substances. I also realize that there are 500 other sick people in my wing alone... and you have a very tight budget.

Is there NO WAY POSSIBLE to leave some of the flavor behind? My meat had a wonderful aroma. Fantastic texture... and absolutely NO taste what so ever. The absence of flavor itself became the defining flavor. I had no idea that "Null" was a flavor. Apparently "Void" is as well.

That was just the meat. The lima beans... normally they taste... well... like lima beans. You managed to extract all the lima-beanyness from each individual bean! I know this because I ate each one individually. My mental state is NOT the question here. The real question here is WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE FLAVOR after you extract it?

Do you sell tiny crack-rocks of pure condensed TASTE on the street? Or maybe you distribute it to certain staff members who have an "understanding" with your cook. Either way I want in on your racket. I will not be sick forever and when I'm able to leave my room I WILL come down there and get the flavor I am missing.

You have been warned.


Sincerely

Aries IV

Fourth Floor Kidney Services Room 229

 

[Captain_Nick]

Maybe whatever you are in hospital for is affecting your taste or smell?

 

[bluedana]

I suggest you order the lemon jello. It has a taste -- lemon furniture polish.

 

[AriesIV]

Maybe whatever you are in hospital for is affecting your taste or smell?

This is in fact part of it. Part of it is medication.

And since I am not contagious they showed me the food prep area today.

Actually there is a lot of SCIENCE!! that goes into making nutritious food for kidney-patients.

Turns out the ingredients I can process do not have much flavor to begin with... those flavors would be brought out with sodium... and I am on a sodium restriction.

So a for the kitchen staff for taking the time to explain why my food tastes odd.

 

[Captain_Nick]

Indeed! You've hit upon a chef's secret right there - if you want more flavour, just add salt.

 

[AriesIV]

Indeed! You've hit upon a chef's secret right there - if you want more flavour, just add salt.

Be awhile if ever before I can flavor my food to that level again.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Great rant. More seriously, I'm sorry you had to put up w/ tasteless food.

And since I am not contagious they showed me the food prep area today.

Actually there is a lot of SCIENCE!! that goes into making nutritious food for kidney-patients.

Turns out the ingredients I can process do not have much flavor to begin with... those flavors would be brought out with sodium... and I am on a sodium restriction.

So a for the kitchen staff for taking the time to explain why my food tastes odd.

Wow, I'm impressed that they took you so seriously and spent so much time w/ you.

There are so many good alternatives to salt. Can your kidneys not deal w/ herbs and spices?

 

[auntiehill]

What about something like Mrs. Dash--a mix of pepper, garlic, basil, etc? Could someone smuggle a bottle of that into your room?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

What about something like Mrs. Dash--a mix of pepper, garlic, basil, etc? Could someone smuggle a bottle of that into your room?

I was going to suggest the same thing. There are a ton of Mrs. Dash flavors and they're all sodium free. Excellent alternatives to salt.

 

[bluedana]

Wait. You actually sent that note? I ... kind of love you.

 

[AriesIV]

What about something like Mrs. Dash--a mix of pepper, garlic, basil, etc? Could someone smuggle a bottle of that into your room?

There are so many good alternatives to salt. Can your kidneys not deal w/ herbs and spices?

I get out in a week. I have spent ten days in here so far. I DO NOT WANT ANY JUSTIFIABLE REASON TO STAY LONGER... so that means strictly following the diet.

Post-hospital I'll give the DASH a try.

Wow, I'm impressed that they took you so seriously and spent so much time w/ you.

I fixed the Play Station II in the lounge area took me about an hour and I used parts from home to do so. My reward was a trip to Food Services to see why my food tastes like the cold cold emptiness of Deep Space.

 

[AriesIV]

Wait. You actually sent that note? I ... kind of love you.

I typed it up and read it to the lady who runs food service.

 

[Captain_Nick]

If you arent that into salt here are some great alternatives

- pepper
- chilli
- garlic
- ginger

Mix and match to taste. Personally I love chucking a whole heap of chilli powder and garlic paste into my salads. Really makes the veggies come alive.

 

[MLJames]

I grew up with my grandmother (who was on a salt-restricted diet), so I got quite used to not having salt on my food. Nowadays, unless I'm making a recipe that specifically calls for salt, I don't use it (even then, I cut down on the amount as much as i can without affecting the taste). For flavoring, I use a lot of Italian seasoning, specifically McCormick.

Loved your note, BTW. Reminded me of a joke I used to make about the Air Force chow hall food being a new type of diet meal: all the calories of regular food, and none of the taste!

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Wait. You actually sent that note? I ... kind of love you.

I typed it up and read it to the lady who runs food service.

Maybe they liked the fact that you had a sense of humor instead of just being cranky, like every other patient.

Were you thinking of this by any chance, when you wrote it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/t...e-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html

 

[Mary Ann]

What about something like Mrs. Dash--a mix of pepper, garlic, basil, etc? Could someone smuggle a bottle of that into your room?

I was going to suggest the same thing. There are a ton of Mrs. Dash flavors and they're all sodium free. Excellent alternatives to salt.

Your letter is awesome!

Your taste buds should adjust to eating food with less salt in it. I cut down on my salt intake some years ago, not for health reasons but because I ate too much of the stuff. For the first few weeks everything tasted awfully bland but I soon got used to it, and now I cringe at a lot of processed food because it has too much salt in it for my taste. The same goes for sugar. And definitely go with with suggestions above. Have fun with your cooking!

 

[Sephiroth]

look for the heart healthy foods, there are some tasty low-sodium options out there

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I fixed the Play Station II in the lounge area took me about an hour and I used parts from home to do so. My reward was a trip to Food Services to see why my food tastes like the cold cold emptiness of Deep Space.

Do they have a place for you to lock up your laptop when you're asleep or not in the room? Or do you feel safe leaving it out? I'm curious, because I'm anticipating a hospital stay of my own in a few weeks, and I was thinking of taking my iPad w/ me.

I hope you get through the week as painlessly and frustration-free as possible. Be well.

 

[Admiral_Young]

As someone who has been in and out of the hospital since he was born I can sympathize about the food. It's pretty bad. I can't stand it. When I was in the hospital for my foot surgeries my mom's partner started bringing me homemade food until they told her not to do that. She got pissed at them and soon after demanded that I be released lol.

 

[Holdfast]

Leaving aside the problems of specific diets lacking important seasoning, and things like specific medication side-effects affecting taste, one key problem with all hospital food is the heating process involved, combined with the subsequent delay in distribution of the meal, and how that relates with food safety legislation prohibiting re-heating of cooked food.

It's the same problem that airline food has, to a lesser degree, and why that also tastes bad.

The food is often heated beyond what it would be in a normal context, to cope with the delay in serving, and to ensure sterility. To do this without burning the food means lengthened cooking times, basically destroying almost all flavour. It's still basically nutritious (sort of) but it tastes bland.

The only way to fix this would be fresh catering (not just heating facilities) in each ward. Which, obviously, would be insanely expensive.