Food Labels: A Thing of the Future!

Baby Boomer Generation

Baby Boomers are individuals ages 45-65. They have grown up in a different culture and have formed a unique set of values and ideas. Baby boomers overall are said to be very health conscious. With access to the internet, anything and everything can be “googled” making this group of individuals more educated on health matters when entering a hospital. Due to changing medical conditions, the most common being high blood pressure and diabetes, they focus more on nutrition.  The Government of Alberta “Consumer Reports” publication reports that well over half of baby boomers check food labels as to avoid certain contents.

Wanting More…

With that being said there is a thought that baby boomers are not going to be as willing to listen to nutrition advice and it is questioned whether food labels will be in demand in healthcare foodservices. The thought is that they will want to read the food labels to ensure they are receiving healthy foods and avoiding the contents they avoid on a normal basis. I challenge if this is really necessary though in a hospital setting. Three things need to be considered: knowledge translation, feasibility, and patient satisfaction.

Knowledge translation

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research defines knowledge translation as a dynamic and iterative process that includes the synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically sound application of knowledge to improve health, provide more effective health services and products, and strengthen the health care system. In other words it is the process of putting knowledge into action.

What does this mean for the incorporation of food labels within hospital foodservice? By not understanding how the information from a food label translates into action means that more education is going to be required for these patients. Who would do the education? Ultimately the Registered Dietitian (or Dietitian Technician in some cases) should do it, but is there time for this to happen?  There is also a question of time required to complete the education and what exactly would be taught off the label.

Feasibility

Anything is possible though. Incorporating food labels could definitely happen. However, the time it would take to translate food labels from the bulk products received in foodservice into food labels with individual food servings should only be done if it is deemed to be necessary. Aside from time, there are a variety of processes that must be reviewed to ensure flow of the information from the kitchen up to the patient. Many hospitals contract out their foodservice and thus a disconnect can occur between clinical nutrition (ie: the Dietitians) and foodservice operators. This may not be an easy hurdle to jump.

Feasible or not…

I argue that in hospital foodservice it will never be necessary. The act of reading a food label is done as to educate oneself about the nutritional quality of the food. Isn’t that already taken care of in a hospital? If there is a question about the quality of hospital food should it really be up to the patient to monitor it by requesting food labels?  There is a reason why only Registered Dietitians are employed to review nutritional information in hospitals. They are accredited, respected, and trusted sources of nutritional information.  A level of trust needs to occur between the patient and the hospital. That being said, you have to also question if it is really the role of an acute care setting. Would this type of education not be better suited in a continuing care facility or outpatient counseling center.

Patient Satisfaction

Patient satisfaction should always be at the centre of any hospital foodservice.  If the stance was taken that patients should trust that hospitals are already providing them nutritionally sound food and really it is not the role of an acute care setting to provide food labels, one could argue that patient satisfaction will suffer in the future. Patients will be asking for food labels and we won’t be giving them.

No. It won’t. The reason why patient satisfaction will not decrease is because giving food labels does not solve the ultimate problem at hand the connection between the patient and foodservice. Giving food labels would create this connection by increasing the face time with the patient. More face time means more patient satisfaction. This has been shown time and time again.

Therefore, how do we convince the patient that the hospital food is of good nutritional quality thus them not requiring food labels? Take ownership of the food served. Read a previous post Gastronomy & Hospital Foodservice to see how this could be done.

By following the tips mentioned in that article face time will increase, confidence in the nutritional quality of the food will be achieved, patient satisfaction will increase, and food labels will not be necessary.

Big Picture

Absolutely we are going to see a generation that is more educated and more health conscious then we have ever seen before. However, we cannot forget who the experts are. Registered Dietitians and foodservice operators need to work together to provide quality food to the patients. With this being accomplished, the baby boomer generation can trust that in a hospital setting their health is the number one priority.