The ‘Creating a fortified diet: Recipe booklet’ is a free resource for those caring for people who have been identified as at risk of malnutrition, or who are malnourished. It is likely to be particularly useful for those working in, or supporting care homes for older adults.
As the content of this resource is slightly different to the many other resources which exist about using food to manage malnutrition, the content is also likely to support both health and social care staff to start to think a little differently about how food can be best used to meet all nutritional needs for those with or at risk of malnutrition.

In Summer 2024, the British Dietetic Association’s (BDA) specialist interest groups; Older People and Food Services joined together to create the first ever edition of the Care Home Digest.   The digest provides guidance on menu planning and food service for older adults living in care homes and provides information on the following key areas;

• Nutrition and hydration needs
• Delivering a positive mealtime experience
• Menu planning and design
• Special diets

Other sources of information for catering teams include;

Nutrition for older vegetarians and vegans, BDA and Vegetarian for life Publication, (2020) A really useful guide for supporting older people who are vegetarian and vegan. It includes advice on IDDSI texture modification, food fortification and finger food ideas.

The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI): Texture modification handouts. Easy to read information about all the IDDSI levels and their testing methods.

Dried milk powder is a great cost effective way of fortifying your resident’s meals and drinks to help optimise their energy and protein intake.

Fortified Milk Recipe

Ingredients

4 heaped tablespoons (60g) of dried milk powder

1 pint (568ml) of whole (full cream) milk

Directions

Add dried milk powder to a jug, adding a small amount of whole milk and stir with a fork or whisk to form a smooth paste. Slowly add remaining whole milk.

Add fortified milk to cereals, tea, coffee and milky drinks to maximise your residents energy and protein intake.

Important note about dried milk powders

Although dried milk powder is widely available, not all powders are the same. Some milk powders with ‘added vegetable based fat’ are often much lower in protein (8-12g protein per 100g) than those with ‘full dairy skimmed milk powders’ (30-36g protein per 100g). Although the vegetable based milk powders may appear cheaper initially, you would need three times the equivalent of a dairy based powder to achieve a similar protein content, which would be difficult to achieve and likely unpalatable.

Below is a table of some commonly available dried milk powders  which contain more than 30g protein/100g (other brands may be available).

High protein dried milk powder brands