Prison menus revamped to cater for special diets

Menus in Ireland’s jails have been “updated and refreshed” by the Irish Prison Service to include more fresh produce and cut down on fat, as well as making better provision for diabetics and vegetarians.

The changes follow a review conducted over the past 12 months to ensure “varied and nutritious” meals are provided to prisoners, including halal and kosher food on request.

Despite the changes, however, the food bill for prisons has actually fallen from €8.7million in 2014 to €7.6 million last year, according to figures released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.

Dinner menus feature traditional Dublin coddle, alongside staples like chicken casserole, cottage pie, breaded fillet of fish with chips and mushy peas, and pork chops with potatoes, cabbage and gravy.

For tea, there is curry pie and peas, soup and roll, scrambled egg and grilled tomato, cheese salad, chicken burger and coleslaw, or chicken leg and curried beans.

The new menus, which were approved by the prison service’s consultant dietician, were launched earlier this year “with really good reviews from all prisons”, official documents record.

Prisoners who do not eat meat can choose vegetarian coddle, vegetable curry, vegetarian pasta bake, Quorn sausage with mash and onion gravy, and savoury omelette over the course of a weekly menu.

Other offerings include veggie burgers, spring roll and peas, cheese wrap, or baked potato and beans.

An egg mayonnaise salad with “Lighter than Light” 3% fat mayonnaise is also on offer as a tea option.

Bananas, apples, yogurts, trifle, ice cream and raspberry mousse also feature on menus.

Gratuity

Meals are prepared in prison kitchens with the help of prisoners. Inmates working in the kitchens, or elsewhere in the prisons dealing with laundry, handling rubbish, maintaining gardens, or cleaning, receive a gratuity of 50 cent per session,with a maximum payment of €3.50 a week.

Prisoners generally receive daily allowances ranging from a basic rate of 95 cent to an “enhanced” rate of €2.20, depending on discipline and activity.