Evaluation of the Balanced Menus Challenge: a healthy food and sustainability programme in hospitals in Maryland.

OBJECTIVE: The Balanced Menus Challenge (BMC) is a national effort to bring the healthiest, most sustainably produced meat available into health-care settings to preserve antibiotic effectiveness and promote good nutrition. The present study evaluated the outcomes of the BMC in the Maryland/Washington, DC region. DESIGN: The BMC is a cost-effective programme whereby participating hospitals reduce meat purchases by 20 % of their budget, then invest the savings into purchasing sustainably produced meat. A mixed-methods retrospective assessment was conducted to assess (i) utilization of the BMC 'implementation toolkit' and (ii) achievement of the 20 % reduction in meat purchases. Previous survey data were reviewed and semi-structured interviews were conducted. SETTING: Hospitals located in the Maryland/Washington, DC region, USA, that adopted the BMC. SUBJECTS: Twelve hospitals signed the BMC in the Maryland/Washington, DC region and six were available for interview. RESULTS: Three hospitals in the Maryland/Washington, DC region that signed the BMC tracked their progress and two achieved a reduction in meat procurement by ≥20 %. One hospital demonstrated that the final outcome goal of switching to a local and sustainable source for meat is possible to achieve, at least for a portion of the meal budget. The three hospitals that reduced meat purchases also received and used the highest number of BMC implementation tools. There was a positive correlation between receipt and usage of implementation tools (r=0·93, P=0·005). CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates that hospitals in the Maryland/Washington, DC region that sign the BMC can increase the amount of sustainably produced meat purchased and served.

Recovery of Gram-negative bacilli in stored endotracheal aspirates.

This study assessed the recovery rates of Gram-negative bacilli from stored endotracheal aspirates frozen with and without glycerol. Samples frozen with glycerol showed a significant difference in isolate recovery, 89.7% versus 69.2% (P = 0.02). This study demonstrates that it is possible to achieve high recovery rates of potentially pathogenic organisms from endotracheal aspirates when stored with glycerol, thus broadening the scope of active surveillance cultures for both clinical and research purposes.