| RD Poll |
No Poll this week.
Title 22 Bonus Round Poll winner will be posted in the next issue. Thank you to all of you who participated in the Poll last week. |
| Food For Thought | |
I would like to hear from you regarding how your facilities handle boxed lunches. If you have any thoughts on boxed lunches, please  feel free to send me email or call me at the office 916-364-5300.
Janet Montano, RD Director of Menu Services |
| Quick Links
HMC Staff Site
| | HMC RDNews Archives
|
| Contact the Editor |
 Please send your RDNews comments, suggestions & questions to Judy Morgan, MBA, RD | |
|
Greetings!
Food safety is vital to the health and well being of our residents. HMC provides ServSafe courses led by Veronica Oteyza, RD to meet the need of the LTC community and beyond. HMC is pleased to announce that
Click on Logo for link to information. | ServSafe courses will be offered for the next 4 months right here next to our home office in Sacramento. Please share ServSafe information with your facilities by way of the link at right, printed form or link via email. Thank You! |
|
|
 Many residents leave the facility during a meal to go to adult school, dialysis, medical appointments, activity events and outings and may need to take a boxed meal with them. The dietary department is still responsible for assuring that the food served is in compliance with the state and federal regulations, food code, and specific resident diet orders and preferences. Janet Montano, RD, Menu Services Director, has provided a sample boxed meal pattern including regular, renal and renal NCS restrictions that is available on the staff website under RD Toolbox, Reference, Food and Menus, Boxed Lunches. |
|
RD Tip |
- Print the meal pattern and provide it to your Dietary Managers to post in the dietary department for staff to follow for boxed meal preparation.
- Plan an in-service with the dietary manager and dietary staff on proper procedures and foods for the boxed meals.
- Make sure the resident allergies and food preferences are noted and accommodated with the boxed meals.
- If the resident is on a fluid restriction, make sure the fluid provided in the boxed meal follows the fluid limit allowed for that meal.
- You may suggest the dietary manager purchase some individual plastic containers with lids to serve boxed meals for mechanically altered diets.
- Keep the boxed meal refrigerated until ready to distribute and label it with resident name, meal, date and diet order.
- If the boxed meal is not picked up or used on the date intended, it should be discarded.
- Check policy and procedure manual policy # 526 Food Preparation-protein salad mixtures for the appropriate safe food handling procedures for sandwich preparation.
- Send the boxed meal in a washable lunch box with a frozen non-toxic "blue ice" type chiller.
- Wash and sanitize the lunch container after each use.
|
| Dear Dietitian; |
Our residents deserve quality meals every day even if they take it with them outside the facility. Your awareness and monitoring of the boxed meals will help the dietary department assure quality for these meals as well.
Judy Morgan, MBA, RD
Corporate Dietitian
HMComposite |
|
|
|
|
Registered Dietitian Newsletter