Must a salt shaker be removed from a residents dining room table if the resident is on a no-added-salt (NAS) diet?
No, not unless all residents at the table suffer from dementia or confusion and are on no-added-salt diets. Otherwise, if it is the practice of the home to have shakers on the tables rather than providing individual packets, the salt shakers should remain so that resident rights are not violated. The facility is responsible for preparing and serving the food to comply with the diet as ordered. If a resident is consistently non-compliant with the NAS diet by adding salt to food at the table, the resident should be advised of the health threat involved and the resident’s physician consulted about the non-compliance.
