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Masina Hospital Launches 1st of its Kind Nutritional Kitchen
Using technology and science, the hospital includes healthy dietary techniques and ingredients for high nutrient consumption and faster recovery of patients.
by Prashant Kapadia/NHN
Mumbai, September, 2021: With the backdrop that it is mandatory to attain and maintain good nutritional status to fight the Corona virus, Masina Hospital in Byculla launches a kitchen where the fundamentals of healthy and hygienic eating are followed strictly. Patients are served balanced meals that includes good quality proteins, less oil, high fiber complex carbohydrates and antioxidant rich foods.
At Masina Hospital, regular market sodium salt has been replaced to rock salt as it is less in sodium content. The management has minimized sugar usage as it is dangerous for health and replaced sugar with natural sweeteners like jaggery, raisins, fruits and dates. Technology is used to make meals healthy by introducing equipment’s like the Air Fryer (Combioven) at the Masina Hospital kitchen to avoid excess oil consumption. Instead of frying in oil, the chefs are baking food and snacks like cutlets, samosa, spring rolls and dessert.
“Right food and quantity play an important role in maintaining good health. We have standardized foods as per calorie and protein and follow the same at the time of meal distribution to patients. Each meal is administered by the kitchen supervisor and Dietician ensuring that the correct meal reaches the right patient as per the diet plan curated for them. At Masina Hospital, we have a centralized kitchen, where we are using hot trolleys so the patient can enjoy hot meals”, says Ms Vinny Makhijani, Chief Dietician, Masina Hospital.
In the current scenario, maintaining good health with good immunity is most important. Weekly menus with seasonal vegetables and fruits are planned to improve patients’ health and recovery. The weekly menu is planned with the discussion of Dietician and Kitchen manager, taking into consideration health as well as taste. Therapeutic diets are carefully planned for different medical conditions like Diabetes, Cardiac problems, renal diseases and other medical conditions. For diabetic patients, instead of rice we serve broken wheat to provide high fibre and maintain their blood sugar levels. In the Cardiac unit, we serve low fat and low salt diet. High protein & calorie diet is given to burns patients, which contains BMD (Butter milk Diet). BMD is a high protein & calorie drink that helps in meeting the nutritional requirement of the patients.
“We replaced unhealthy food with healthy food options, like instead of bread pudding which is made up of refined flour we replaced it with brown rice & broken wheat to make it healthy and tasty. We ensure fiber intake of patients by proving green leafy vegetables, salads, fruits and other high fiber foods.” added Ms Makhijani.
Masina Hospital ensures fresh and healthy food service to patients. At our kitchen we are making chapatis before every meal so the patient will enjoy fresh food. All food is made in the kitchen only. During festive occasions, we also give sweets made out of khoya made in the kitchen itself. We maintain hygiene levels during preparation and service of food to patient and staff. Weekly water sample is sent to the laboratory for testing to check the quality of water potability.
Food handlers are required to receive food safety training & a proper health screening to prevent any hazards or risks that can cause harm to themselves and other people. At Masina Hospital, health check-up is done regularly for food handlers as it is essential to avoid any infection. Food handlers must report to their manager if they suffer from any health issue.
Bearing in mind our patient’s cultural background and eating habits and in an effort to follow a traditional menu, we provide Bhakri made up of Jowar & Bajra. All the ingredients used are of high quality checked by our kitchen supervisor before accepting food materials so that there is no compromise in quality.
“Masina Hospital’s staff is our backbone therefore, we take care of our staff dietary needs also. We provide well-balanced meals for our staff, so they get strength and nourishment to take care of our patients. As Masina Hospital believes in “Your health our mission” we at Masina Hospital kitchen follow this motto by providing healthy and tasty foods for our patients and staff.” added Dr. Vispi Jokhi, CEO, Masina Hospital.