The hospital cafeteria is infamous for serving Jello-O. Why? What was the fixation of Jello for the hospital cafeteria people?
I realize that Escoffier probably didn’t design the menu, but jeeze, sugar + gelatin + coloring ain’t medicinal in the least, is it?
Perhaps it’s because it’s easy to eat and digest, easy and cheap to make and almost everyone likes jello.
It’s simple to prepare and (more importantly for a hospital) easy to digest. For patients who are on the mend and are having trouble keeping solid foods down, it’s a pretty good choice.
It’s not just easy to digest and cheap, but some patients aren’t supposed to have solid food, or can’t eat solids. Jello is easy to eat. Each time I’ve had invasive surgery or procedures, I’m put on a clear liquid diet…and Jello is considered to be a clear liquid. Since the hospital has to make gelatin dessert for those patients anyway, why not just give it to everyone? This dessert is fat free and fairly low calorie, too.
Old time tonsillectomy food: Jello and Seven Up.
It’s collagen which is a protein that traps water and melts in the patients mouth. It was also popular at one time. Food popularity changes, but once an institution finds something that fulfills a requirement it’s around to stay unless proven harmful or a cheaper and better alternative shows up. Please note gelatin is used as a thickener in much of your food today. There are molded fruit snacks that are mostly gelatin so kids are still gobbling it up.
I had a friend who worked at a convalescent home where they served thick liquidy jello the consistency of pancake batter. She would bring it home to snack on.
Like **Lynn Bodoni **said, it’s considered a clear liquid. Patients after major surgery (and even some not so major procedures) are given a specific pattern of sustenance post-op. First, we want to hear your bowels are gurgling, so we know they’re working. Then you’ll be allowed some water and ice chips. If you can keep that down without crashing on us, we’ll move to clear liquids, which are defined as liquids at room temperature that you can see through. Jell-o qualifies because while it’s a solid when refrigerated, it will turn liquid if you leave it out uncovered long enough. At least, homemade jello does. I’m not sure what they do to those prepacked things to keep 'em so solid. But tradition reigns, here. Jell-o=clear liquid.
After clear liquids (apple juice, cranberry juice, clear broths, jell-o, popsicles) comes cloudy liquids. Many doctors and nurses skip this step, for some reason. (Probably time, since we only have you for a couple of days in most cases, and we have to make sure your digestive system is functioning before you leave.) Cloudy liquids are liquid at room temp but not clear - milk, cream based soups, cloudy broth, ice cream…
If you can eat that without making us clean up your puke, we’ll let you have real food. 
ETA: OH! As to why gelatin is on the menu? It’s cheap, as said before, and it’s a clear liquid which feels like you’re eating, not drinking. That makes patients happy. They don’t like drinking all their meals.
It’s not just for after major surgeries, it’s also good after oral and throat surgeries because it’s easy to eat.
Yep. That would be those “not so major procedures” I was talking about, along with tracheoscopy, pharyngoscopy, colonoscopy… Although, like I said, some steps are skipped in interest of time. They move colonscopies out within the hour, but will still make sure they hear bowel sounds and you can drink water before letting you go home and eat solid food.
Anything which could compromise the digestive system, from local paralysis to general anesthetic, from mouth to anus, can be grounds for a clear liquid diet, at least temporarily.
Either they use less liquid in the first place (see Jello Jigglers), or they add unflavored gelatin.
We had a Doper with that particular word as a user name for a while. Dunno where s/he headed off to, but it always made me chuckle when I saw the name above a post.
“Jello. It’s not just for surgery anymore!”