Thick, cheap and easy: Fortifying texture-modified meals with infant cereal

Patients requiring texture-modified meals, particularly those with dysphagia, were identified as being at high risk of malnutrition and aspiration. The innovative use of a common infant cereal as an iron-fortified thickening agent significantly improved food texture and increased iron content of pureed and minced meals by 57%, without any discernible change in flavour. These results are currently benefiting up to 33% of patients and can be directly applied to all areas where consumers require thickened, iron-rich texture-modified meals with minimal additional cost.