# How much effort do prisons make to accomodate dietary restrictions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212 "2010-08-23T21:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/21 "2010-08-24T19:44:32Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > > > Lactose intolerance does NOT merit a special diet or medication for the vast majority of inmates. Lactose intolerance is the default setting for the majority of people on the planet, so it really doesn’t qualify as a disease. Avoid dairy. Problem solved. > > I understand the state not wanting to pay for an inmates Lactase tablets since they can just avoid dairy if needed, but is there a way for an inmate to purchase, or have shipped to them, their own lactase pills if wanted? If so, does the lactase tablets have to be kept and dispensed by the pharmacy/nurse/guard/etc? I got lactase tablets put on our canteen for over a year. With over 1500 inmates in there at any one time, noone bought any. Inmates cannot have such products shipped into them. It’s not worth taking up shelf space for a product noone will buy, and that isn’t medically necessary for 99.999% of the population. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/22 "2010-08-24T19:47:11Z")
> [@robcaro](#): > > I find all of the posts very interesting, but what about special diets for diabetics? Our standard diet is now high fiber, with a low glycemic index. It works fine for diabetics. When we did have a diabetic diet, 90% of the diabetics signed off of it anyway. Despite counselling. :dubious: The majority of inmates whom we put on calorie-controlled diets cheated on them, buying food from canteen or getting it from other inmates. They gained weight consistently on their diet trays, and hence got taken off of them. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/23 "2010-08-24T19:48:12Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I am able to eat onion dip as well as I can eat any fatty food, assuming that it’s made with dried onion. > > I guess this is just another reason for me to stay out of jail. You won’t get offered raw onion very often in our system. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/24 "2010-08-24T20:47:33Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > The previous posts are very similar to UK prisons. > > The actual mechanics of the catering vary, we have a fairly high percentage of Muslims, so we cater directly for them in prison kitchens but we get so few Jews that we have to order their meals in from contracted suppliers, we maybe get one Jew every couple of years. > We always have vegetarian choices which can be selected by several groups, from veans, to some ultra strict Muslims, Buddhists - very rare these, to Rastafarians, som Hindus, Hare Krishnas. There are some restrictions by some groups on the individuals who carry out foo preparation but not many. > > Medical requirements such as diabetics are usually bought in rather than prison produced - there are quite a few of these due mainly to aging of certain prisoners. Allergies are quite rare and given the exploitative nature of prisoners, this may be a surprise, and it does make me wonder about the claims that are made by Joe Public regarding allergies, I think an awful lot of so-called allergic people are just picky. I’ve read Jeffrey Archer’s A Prison Diary II, about his stay in a medium security prison. He publishes a facsimile of the weekly menu. IIRC, there was a normal menu, a “healthy option”, a vegetarian and a halal menu.ISTR that he chose the vegetarian meals, on the basis that mass-produced non-veg meals aren’t well made.He did the same with airline food. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/25 "2010-08-24T21:15:30Z")
For a second, I read that as “Jeffrey \*Dahmer’s \*A Prison Diary II,” and though, “Man, if there was ever a guy who shouldn’t be picky about the meat he’s eating…” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/26 "2010-08-24T22:03:01Z")
In an effort to endumben this enlightening thread, I thought I’d offer up Robot Chicken’s [exploration](http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/farting-and-retards.html) of prison dietary issues. (video, maybe NSFW) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/27 "2010-08-25T06:47:59Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > > > I’m not allergic to onions, but I have bad reactions to any uncooked allium. > > Just curious, do you find that red (i.e. purple) onions are worse? I have much fewer problems with yellow and white globe onions, shallots, and garlic. I don’t eat scallions and leeks enough to figure out whether those are bad. A red onion sliced on a burger = diarrhea. A red onion grilled = delicious. I can eat just about any sort of COOKED or dried allium, which means that I can and do enjoy grilled onions on occasion. I haven’t really experimented with the various types since I made the connection between eating raw allium and having several days’ worth of gastric distress. I’m just not that willing to undergo the pain and inconvenience. I was rather confused, for a while, because I was keeping a journal, and sometimes I’d have a bad reaction when I had onion, and sometimes I didn’t. I wasn’t making the distinction between raw and cooked or dried onion. At any rate, a person doesn’t have to actually be allergic to something for it to cause problems. And that was my point. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/28 "2010-08-25T14:51:15Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Googling suggests that brain matter is kosher, but I still wouldn’t eat it for fear of getting in prion. > > Maybe he was emulating God in Job or something? Or maybe Jesus after he rose from the dead. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/29 "2010-08-25T15:29:52Z")
A truly healthy diet is disliked by about 95% of our inmate population, frankly. They want their comfort foods, and not veggie burgers, high fiber grains, or complete protein soy chow. Healthy foods, when made available on canteen, do not get purchased enough to justify stocking them. Ramen noodles, Little Debbie snack cakes, Jerky treats, pork rinds, chips, and vienna sausages are the popular items. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/30 "2010-08-25T15:57:33Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Ramen noodles, Little Debbie snack cakes, Jerky treats, pork rinds, chips, and vienna sausages are the popular items. And Jack Mack. Don’t forget that. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/31 "2010-08-25T16:06:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > > > Ramen noodles, Little Debbie snack cakes, Jerky treats, pork rinds, chips, and vienna sausages are the popular items. > > And Jack Mack. Don’t forget that. Okay, wow. Just looked that up. New one for me. Our canteen doesn’t have mackeral. Tuna in a pouch and salmon flakes in a packet. Though sardines are in a can. I can see sardines being used, while the assailant yells “go fish!”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/32 "2010-08-25T18:16:48Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve read Jeffrey Archer’s A Prison Diary II, about his stay in a medium security prison. He publishes a facsimile of the weekly menu. IIRC, there was a normal menu, a “healthy option”, a vegetarian and a halal menu.ISTR that he chose the vegetarian meals, on the basis that mass-produced non-veg meals aren’t well made.He did the same with airline food. This is for the prison produced food, for special diets the menu is not distributed across the main population, there is no point since they do not have the option of selecting such meals- such diets mus be referred through various means from faith workers or medical practitioners. Kosher is extremely rare in UK prisons, so few Jews in them and its true for other groups such as Mormons and Jehovahs - and the vegetarian diet is an acceptable diet for many differant groups. The medical diets are bought in as needed, which for certain long terms jails is pretty much every day, the prison kitchen staff do not have the time to produce such limited batches and it is not economic to employ enough staff to do it. Some medical diets are temporary, depending upon the need, such as post op care, others are more permanent such as diabetic or the occasional thyroid case. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/33 "2010-08-25T20:29:20Z")
Lee Boyd Malvo (the assistant DC sniper) was intially vegetarian when first imprisoned. Here is an [article](http://www.slate.com/id/2075999) about the vegetable loaf that the prison system serves. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/34 "2010-08-25T21:12:21Z")
**casdave** thanks for the information. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/35 "2010-08-25T21:46:04Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The inmate writes to the chaplain’s office, requesting a particular diet on moral grounds. If it’s a request for a standard vegan, vegetarian, kosher, halal, etc. diet, the request is approved. The inmate must agree to follow this diet and not buy canteen products which would be proscribed by the diet. There are some other particulars about not taking proscribed food from other inmates’ trays, etc. If the rules are violated, the inmate is returned to the standard diet. > > If the request is nonstandard or particularly offbeat (fruititarian, insects only) then the diet request is rejected. Who determines what constitutes “nonstandard”? For example, [Jainism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism) is an ancient and well-established religion with very peculiar dietary restrictions: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Jains practice strict vegetarianism… They do not consume root vegetables such as potatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, radishes, cassava, sweet potatoes, turnips, etc, as the plant needed to be killed in the process of accessing these prior to their end of life cycle… However, they consume rhizomes such as dried turmeric and dried ginger. [Eggplants] are also not consumed by some Jains owing to the large number of seeds in the vegetable, as a seed is a form of life. Strict Jains do not consume food which has been left overnight, such as yogurt because large amounts of bacteria. Most Jain recipes substitute potato with plantain. During some religious fasting periods, there are even more restrictions (no green vegetables, for example). Though there are perhaps 12 millions Jains in the world, there can’t be more than a few thousand in the US. If one of them found himself in your prison, would his diet be accommodated, or would it be rejected as nonstandard? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/36 "2010-08-26T00:06:50Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Though there are perhaps 12 millions Jains in the world, there can’t be more than a few thousand in the US. If one of them found himself in your prison, would his diet be accommodated, or would it be rejected as nonstandard? While there are a relatively large number of religions that are recognized and accomodated by special policies in New York, Jainism is not one of them. A Jain would have to live within the regular dietary procedures. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212/37 "2010-08-26T01:02:49Z")
There was a similar thread here a few years ago, although as I recall, the discussion was focused primarily on Kosher meals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-effort-do-prisons-make-to-accomodate-dietary-restrictions/551212.md?page=1)