Mr. Campbell was ordered a mechanical soft diet when he was admitted to the hospital. Describe how his meals will be modified with this diet order

What will be an ideal response?

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Answer: 

• This diet consists of foods that are mechanically altered by blending, chopping, grinding, or mashing so that they are easy to chew and swallow.
• Use gravies, sauces, vegetable/ fruit juice, milk, half & half, broth, or water from cooking to moisten foods when mechanically altering and serving.
• Casseroles or salads are served moist and without large chunks of meat or vegetables.
• Soups are served with small pieces of easy to chew and swallow meats and vegetables.
• Vegetables are cooked tender enough to be easily mashed with a fork.
• Bread products are mixed with sauce, gravy, or syrup until the bread product begins to dissolve into a slurry.
• Sticky and chewy foods such as peanut butter and caramel are not served.
• Nuts; seeds; overly dry foods; and tough, fibrous, or stringy foods are avoided.