Canadian hospital removes standard food items from trays to cut down on waste

Oct. 28—Once standard items on hospital food trays such as coffee, tea, salt and pepper will no longer be made available unless special requested as Interior Health aims to cut food service costs.

Kootenay Lake Hospital will discontinue tea and coffee with milk and sugar; salt and pepper; milk and crackers because they were highly wasted items, says Laresa Altenhoff, manager of food and nutrition services for Interior Health East.

“We’re doing our due diligence to try and reduce costs that are associated to health care. It’s important to be cognizant of waste as well,” she says. “I hate things going in the garbage.”