Halal now available in Australian hospitals

Southern Health, Victoria’s largest health service provider in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, has started serving a choice of halal meals for Muslim patients in all of its 40 sites including six major hospitals.

It makes Southern Health the only halal-accredited production facility in the Victorian public sector and the initiative has been approved by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC).

Southern Health’s director of support services Veronica Jamison was behind the idea and is certainly a realist when it comes to hospital food.

Ms Jamison said when patients was first admitted to hospital they were given a diet grade that took into account both their clinical diagnosis as well as their cultural and religious needs.

“If the patients are not given the right food to eat, they are not going to get better,” she said. “Nutrition plays a pivotal role in a patient’s recovery – it’s so important. If a patient says they are Muslim or Jewish they are obviously not going to eat some types of food, so we need to ensure we give them a diet this is acceptable to them .”

She said the halal meals were prepared according to strict guidelines laid down by AFIC. Halal food guidelines state that animals must be slaughtered according to Islamic law and that pork and its by-products must not be used.

Kitchen implements must be thoroughly cleaned before preparing halal meals and all raw ingredients including vegetables and grain must be halal and kept separate from other foods.

Ms Jamison said the meals were prepared at the Kingston Centre, chilled or frozen, and then distributed to the network of hospitals. On average, the Dandenong Hospital serves 84 halal meals a week.

Southern Health also serves a range of kosher meals, but these not prepared in-house instead they are sourced from a kosher supplier.

Ms Jamison said she had received good feedback about the initiative including lots of interest from other hospitals.

Adapted from Dandenong-Leader

Photo by Rea Einskisdóttir, Bonnells Bay, New South Wales, Australia