Every facility wants to be on budget when it comes to food costs and still be able to prepare a nutritious meal, follow food preference, food for activities and provide nourishments.
Administrators and Dietary Supervisors are looking to Dietitians to provide them with expert advice on how to control costs. Some
reasoned that they are over budget because the menu is complicated; others say the budget given is just too low to begin with to be on budget and still be able to follow the menu. Some say the food vendors have increased their prices. Other says it's the extra nourishments and food used for activities. It could also be a combination of all these reasons.
In controlling food costs, it is important to follow a Standardized Menu, develop and follow portion control and use an Order Guide. The Order guide lists the food supplies that are needed to be purchased to follow the Standardized Menu. An inventory of food supplies on hand each week is necessary to determine food items that needed to be purchased.
Proper Storage is also important to prevent spoilage of food items and avoid waste. Is the food storage area secure to prevent theft? Also important in controlling costs is the daily census or tally of diet and a food production schedule which guides the cook on how much meat to pull, how much milk and juice to pour to prevent overproduction.
Observing kitchen staff during food preparation may give ideas on food preparation techniques that may cause waste. Knowing yield per pound of food and how many servings a No. 10 can serve will help in food purchasing and planning meals.
Nourishments and nutritional supplements are an additional food cost and this can get out of hand. Reviewing the list of nourishments and having a system to track, decrease and discontinue nourishments, if residents constantly refused nourishments or is not necessary can help avoid food waste.
Orders such as Large Portions can also add to food costs and may need to be reviewed if still necessary. Ask staff how much food waste is coming back. The DSS and RD can change the unpopular menu item to prevent residents choosing alternates all the time, which can add to food cost.
Training the DSS to use the HMC forms to tally Monthly or
Weekly Food and Supply Expenses, is useful to track where the food budget is being used. Finding Cost Effective Ways to prepare food can help control food costs. Here are some ideas other RD's and DSS have come up with to cut cost:
- Compare cost of gallons of milk instead of using cartons of milk.
- Compare cost of fresh potatoes to frozen or dried potatoes.
- Compare cost of making your own soups rather than buying canned.
- Compare cost of buying packets of ketchup, jellies or syrups, buying in bulk and using portion cups.
- Properly use thickener rather than buying pre-thickened fluids.
Registered Dietitian Newsletter
The information provided will give ideas on what may be causing the high food costs in a facility and calculating raw food cost. The same information can also be used to train the Dietary Supervisor. 
So as RD's we have to be knowledgeable in providing the necessary information to guide the Dietary Supervisor in determining the cause of high food costs and developing ways to control cost of food. As a consultant you bring fresh eyes to the kitchen and facility, so use your expertise to help control dietary costs. 