Substantial Nutrient Loss in Hospital Food

There is a substantial nutrient loss in hospital foodservice operations, according to a study of two New Jersey hospitals.

The study, published in the Journal of Foodservice, quantifies how much Vitamin C — as a marker of nutrient quality — is retained at various stages of processing.

The nutrient quality of Vitamin C was significantly reduced as a food sample progressed to patients — by as much as 86 percent at a hospital in an inner-city neighborhood.

Many nutrients, including Vitamin C, degrade at high temperatures; this loss may result from food being heated to a temperature much higher than recommended by hospital foodservice so as to still be warm when served to patients.

Improved nutritional status correlates with faster healing and recovery, leading to reduced hospital stays; hospitals need improved cooking methods to reduce the loss of nutrients in foods served to patients.

Physicians, dietitians and menu planners rely on published standard nutritional values, but these standards are derived from experiments made in ideal conditions and fail to consider the various handling, holding and delivery methods that are common in hospitals, according lead author Dr. Charles Feldman, a professor at the Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences at Montclair State University.