Going Trans Fat Free in Long Term Care

1. Going Trans Fat Free in Long Term Care By Linda Hannah, RD Good Samaritan Society

2. How were we affected? • Residents didn’t ask • Staff didn’t ask • I didn’t ask at first • As of September 2009 only 2 products were not available • Permanent replacement found for one and a temporary substitute was implemented for the other.

3. 60 years of business and pioneers of LTC and the cottage environment • Traditional multi storey buildings with central kitchen • Small sites with central kitchen • Medium size sites with central kitchen for main building and cottages receiving ready to eat food from central kitchen • Medium size sites with central kitchen for main building and cottages receiving raw ingredients from central kitchen and cook in home style environment

4. Cottage Model • Picture of ______ site with independent cottages • Picture of cottage kitchen

5. Menu Design & Support • 2 Dedicated Best Practice Dietitians • 1 in BC and 1 in Alberta • Design spring/summer and fall/winter menus • Menu support documents including a cookbook • Standardized product selection across 4 Sysco warehouses in 2 provinces. • This will help should Alberta go Trans Fat Free

6. Which items were affected • Margarines • Mousse dry mix • Cake dry mix • Crackers • Breaded items

7. What happened? • Kitchen Staff – most weren’t aware • Product Availability – only 2 items weren’t available post Sept 2009 • Resident Family council meetings – no one asked • So far no concerns have been voiced through the audits conducted at the site level.

8. What’s outstanding • BC Trans Fat Regulations requires documentation for all food/ingredients kept on site except fresh fruits and vegetables, egg, raw meat, fish and poultry. • IE: ingredient lists, nutrition fact table or product specification sheet • If a food item has one of the following words in the ingredient list,you also require nutrition information to show the grams of trans fat and total fat for the product. • Hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, margarine, shortening

9. Summary • No one asked • No one noticed • Manufacturers and Suppliers were compliant • Maintaining food/ingredient records could be difficult • It forces us to be healthier by reducing consumption of the really bad fat that we didn’t need anyway! • Best of all – we are more aware of what we purchase and consume.

10. Questions? Contact information Linda Hannah, RD lhannah@gss.org 250-469-6930