At Maple Leaf, we are deeply committed to supporting our healthcare and senior living partners. During these uncertain times, we understand that providing meal service to the seniors and patients in your homes/communities and hospitals may be a challenge. Issues like staffing shortages, facility lockdowns and staff reassignment to other duties may be higher than normal.

In an effort to help you continue to nourish your residents and patients, Maple Leaf Foodservice has prepared three resources featuring our readymade/fully cooked products: Product Suggestion List for Senior Living, Product Suggestion List for Hospitals, and our 7 Day Pandemic Menu for Senior Living.

Maple Leaf products meet the following parameters:

  • Listed and stocked at all or the majority of distributors nationally
  • Fully cooked – heat and serve or serve cold without skilled labor required
  • Senior-friendly: traditional in appeal, easy to cut and chew
  • Healthcare-friendly: low or controlled in sodium, suitable protein (most are Good to Excellent sources of protein, and >13g of protein)
  • Can be quickly modified to be suitable for texture modified diets
  • Suitable for all retherm systems

Supplementary Menu Products:

  • Breakfast uses pre-boiled or pre-peeled hardboiled eggs, cheese portions, portioned yogurt, frozen RTS waffles, cold cereals and instant hot cereals
  • Use fresh (including diced fresh RTS fruit), canned or frozen fruit and vegetables depending on availability of product within the food service operation
  • Lunch uses canned, frozen Ready to Serve Soup or dry mix soup
  • Lunch includes two choices of vegetables – cold salad and hot vegetable; may be offered with either of the entrée options
  • Purchase salads that are readymade and prewashed/chopped lettuce blends from your DC
  • Dinner includes instant potatoes/rice or frozen premade RTS mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes
  • Desserts consist of pre-packaged cookies (shelf stable), frozen readymade cookies/desserts, canned puddings and portioned ice cream cups
  • Fortified plant-based beverage may be substituted for milk
  • Serve choice of beverages at every meal – Juice/Tea/Coffee along with Milk/Water

Additional Menu Direction:

  • Implement paper for dishware if staff shortages (but not required for COVID-19)
  • Follow HACCP safe food handling guidelines when reheating, and holding all food:
  • All cold food should be held at 4’C/40’F or lower
  • All hot food must be reheated to a minimum temperature of 74’C (165’F) or above for a minimum of 15 seconds
  • Hold all heated food in hot holding equipment at 60’C (140’F) for maximum 2 hours
  • Always use a clean and sanitized probe thermometer to check food temperatures before serving
  • Discard any unused product if using full cooked products and reheating for meal service