“Stocking a good variety of quality, nutritious readymade products from trusted suppliers can reduce the pressure on residential aged care kitchen staff by ensuring sufficient options are on hand.”

• It’s important to ensure there are always nutritious and tasting snacking options available – and not just at regular mealtimes but throughout the day
• Turning to quality products, especially those which have specially formulated for aged care, can alleviate some of the pressure on aged care kitchen staff
• Dairy Farmers single serve Vanilla Custard, which has been developed specifically with the high energy and high protein requirements of aged care residents in mind and which conforms to IDDSI Level 4, is a great example, as are the extensive range of yoghurts available from Bega Foodservice

One of the key topics in the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standard 6: Food and Nutrition is around supporting older people to access nutritious snacks and drinks at all times.

“It’s important to ensure there are always nutritious and tasty snacking options available – and not just at regular mealtimes, but throughout the day,” says Jennifer Arguelles, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Senior Nutritionist at Bega Foodservice.

Jennifer argues that stocking a good range of quality readymade products from trusted suppliers can reduce the pressure on residential aged care kitchen staff by ensuring sufficient options are on hand to combat the “menu fatigue” that aged care residents can experience when not enough variation is available.

“We know that many residential aged care kitchens are facing staffing and skills shortages, and the introduction of Standard 6 has added to their workload. Turning to quality products, especially those which are specially suited to aged care, can alleviate some of this burden.”

Quality readymade products, alleviating the pressure

An example Jennifer cites is Dairy Farmers single serve Vanilla Custard, which has been developed specifically with the high energy and high protein requirements of aged care residents in mind and which conforms to IDDSI Level 4.

There’s also the extensive range of yoghurts available from Bega Foodservice, some of which boast higher protein levels.

“Dairy Farmers Thick and Creamy Yoghurt, Yoplait and Farmers Union Greek Style Yoghurt all come in single serve portion control packs, making them ideal for snacking,” Jennifer adds.

Farmers Union Greek Style Yoghurt is available in a range of flavours including Strawberry, Passionfruit, Mango and Vanilla. These come in 130g pouches with twist-top lids and provide 1 billion probiotics per serve as well as the goodness of calcium and protein.

As Jennifer points out, their design makes it easy for residents to enjoy the yoghurt straight from the pouch – “they might require a moment of assistance with the twist-top, but once open the design can encourage self-feeding for those who might not have the dexterity to spoon yoghurt from a tub.”

As the Australian Government Provider Fact Sheet on Standard 6 notes, serving a choice of nutritious meals and drinks can make a huge difference to the quality of life of older people receiving care.