the US IDDSI Reference Group (USIRG) provides crucial resources on IDDSI.org, offering detailed guidance and FAQs to help ensure the safety and well-being of individuals with swallowing difficulties. due to the specific characteristics of gelatin/Jell-O and the variability of products, the best practice is to include it only on Regular (IDDSI Level 7) and Thin Liquid (Level 0) menus unless your IDDSI testing indicates otherwise. Facility-specific testing and speech pathologist assessments can offer more tailored guidance

As IDDSI implementation gains momentum, you might ask yourself, “Are we making enough progress on integrating IDDSI into our organization?” How do you compare?

MIND stands for Mediterranean DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It is an eating pattern that combines two well studied diets that are associated with health promotion, the Mediterranean diet and the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). We put together this blog with infographics on the MIND Diet to give you a quick way to get to the details of what makes up the MIND Diet.

Margaret Roche was recently a guest on The Boelter Wire Podcast, where she discussed how organizations can improve their food quality and safety with IDDSI

Corn is of those foods that is hard to make into a texture……….

“Why should we make changes to textures that are currently working well for our clientele?

“Is IDDSI adaptable to an individual’s needs or do the levels need to be followed correctly every time?

Which vegetables work best on a puree diet and on a soft diet? And do you sieve all of your vegetables after you puree them?

“I was curious how you are using the transitional foods? Is it separate diet order that allows transitional foods within each level?

“I’m curious about a meal sample or list for IDDSI Soft & Bite-Sized (Level 6). What’s okay and what’s not okay?”

“I am wondering how you handle gravy related to IDDSI. Do you recommend placing it on meats? Staff are used to putting gravy on everything from the old dysphagia standards.

We know that nutrition and the culinary arts go hand-in-hand, but stories of IDDSI implementation around the world are showing us they must go hand-in-hand.

As those who care for individuals with diabetes, we need to focus on helping our residents achieve long-term positive outcomes for their health.

Let’s get a conversation going! Where are you on IDDSI implementation?

1 in 25 adults experience swallowing problems.

“Are we making enough progress on IDDSI implementation?”.

“Starting with liquids can make for an easy transition to the new dysphagia standards.”

Efforts underway by Partnership for Food Safety Education to encourage recipe writers to include safe food handling instructions in all recipes. Great idea! Even better for senior living as we serve a highly susceptible population. That’s why our Roche Dietitians recipes always include safe food handling instructions.

This year the holidays will be like no other.

Combining their proprietary insights along with analysis of menu trends, ingredient labels, consumer preferences, social media chatter, chef-led innovation and their experience of supporting thousands of new product launches across the globe, Kerry’s culinary and beverage experts predict taste for the coming year.