Health Sciences

School of Human Communication Sciences

Dysphagia

Supermarket Food Options Soft Diet

Created: October 2008

Key:

1. Soaked in milk until soft
2. Must be cooked well so that food is soft
3. Avoid these foods if told by your Speech Pathologist that you cannot have dry or crumbly foods
4. Avoid these foods if you are also on thickened fluids
5. May need to be softened, for example soaked in milk

Soft diet

• All products need to be cut into bite-sized pieces
• Food must be easy to chew
• Can also have options from the Minced and Pureed sections

Snacks

Supermarket

• Soft, non-crumbly cheeses, for example camembert or ricotta
• K-time twist bars
• Peeled soft fruits, such as strawberries, kiwi fruit, cherries, mango, pear, ripe banana

Mediterranean

• Halva (without nuts or seeds; select those with a more gelatinous texture) (3)
• Mizithra or manouri cheese

Asian

• Non-chewy pastries
• Assorted biscuits (1)

Breakfast

Supermarket

• Ready-made pancakes and pikelets
• Bread without grains, for example white or wholemeal (no crusts)
• Porridge
• Some breakfast cereals, but not those with nuts, seeds or dry fruit such as Weet-bix, Nutri-grain or Corn flakes (1)
• Tinned chopped fruit (4)
• Eggs

Mediterranean

• Greek yoghurt (with honey)

Asian

• Rice porridge
• Flour buns (remove any hard fillings)
• Soy bean curd (4)

Meals

Supermarket

• Pre-made quiches (cut off the crust)
• Pre-made lasagna
• Tinned tuna
• Tinned spaghetti or baked beans
• Chicken nuggets
• Frozen vegetables
• Steamed dim sims
• Rice (2)
• Pasta, such as penne or macaroni (2)
• Noodles (2)
• Couscous
• Packet pastas, for example Continental(2)
• Risotto(2)
• Polenta
• Tinned soup
• Soft meat, for example sausages or chicken
• Tinned vegetables

Mediterranean

• Soup pasta, such as tubetti, astraki (4)
• Trahana soup (add halloumi cheese to increase creaminess) (4)
• Pilaf
• Preserved/ pickled vegetables
• Tinned meat
• Condiments such as anchovies, olives and capers
• Relishes, such as ajvar with cheese
• Dolma (vine leaves stuffed with rice)

Asian

• Rice porridge
• Rice dumplings (remove any hard fillings)
• Soft tofu (silken/ egg)
• Firm tofu/ bean curd (dried/ fermented)
• Preserved/ pickled vegetables
• Tinned vegetables
• Tinned meat
• Crab meat sticks (2)
• Fish tofu (2)
• Meat balls, for example fish or pork (2)
• Century/ preserved duck/ quail eggs
• Unagi fish
• Curry
• Pork/ fish floss (3)
• Furikake (Japanese rice seasoning) (3)

Dessert

Supermarket

• Muffins and cake (without hard lumps of, for example, fruit) (3)
• Lamingtons (3)

Mediterranean

• Tiramisu

Asian

• Sago pudding
• Grass jelly (4)
• Barley (2)
• Konnyaku jelly (without hard lumps of fruit)
• Sesame/ Peanut/ Yam paste
• Bean soups, for example green beans or adzuki beans (2; 4) Note: may add sago balls to thicken soup

Disclaimer: This material is provided to offer information regarding dysphagia. Material is for general information purposes only and it is recommended that advice of a professional Speech Pathologist be sought regarding specific cases. This material was last updated in October 2008.

Dysphagia

Created by Ying Ying He, Leah Knight, Elissa McCleary, Carli Maddocks, Sherry Metry and Travis Wilkins (4th year Bachelor of Speech Pathology students) under the supervision of the School of Human Communication Sciences at LaTrobe University (Justine Slattery) and Epworth HealthCare (Joanne Cox, Doug McCaskie, Deb Perlow and Lauren Kovesey).