The Joint Commission launched a new, voluntary program to recognize healthcare organizations’ food and nutrition services Sept. 30.
The Commitment to Healthy and Enticing Food, or CHEF, program is open to all Joint Commission-accredited hospitals, critical access hospitals, behavioral healthcare organizations, nursing care centers and assisted living communities that provide food and nutrition services.
Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital is the first organization to earn the CHEF recognition.
The program has three tiers designed to help organizations progressively strengthen their food and nutrition practices:
- Tier 3, Initial Commitment: Organizations review their current food practices, bring in a dietitian, teach patients about healthy eating and start at least one project to improve food.
- Tier 2, Advancing Excellence: Organizations set goals across the whole organization, form teams from different departments, expand access to healthier food, improve purchasing practices and advance nutrition education.
- Tier 1, Community Ambassador: Organizations have strong support from leadership, source ingredients more carefully and actively promote healthy food and nutrition education in their communities.
The Joint Commission partnered with Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian on the program. Mr. Zakarian will support participants through quarterly webinars, newsletters, blogs and direct consulting.
The launch follows months of federal attention on hospital food. HHS and CMS launched the voluntary Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge on July 8. The pledge builds on a March 30 CMS memo that urged hospitals to align their menus with the 2025-2030 dietary guidelines for Americans. Tampa General became the first hospital to sign the pledge on July 16, and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD. toured the hospital’s food program on July 23.
