# US nursing homes' menus must be reviewed by the facility's dietitian for nutritional adequacy, and only a physician or a delegated dietitian may prescribe a resident's diet

Page: https://flyvolo.ai/en/changes/ev-20161128-dietitian-15
Date: 2016-11-28 · Stage: Constraint
Can this record move a task judgement? yes
Occupation: https://flyvolo.ai/en/careers/dietitian

## Scope

United States, nursing homes in Medicare and Medicaid. The federal requirements say menus must be reviewed by the facility's dietitian or other clinically qualified nutrition professional for nutritional adequacy; that therapeutic diets must be prescribed by the attending physician; and that the physician may delegate to a registered or licensed dietitian the task of prescribing a resident's diet, including a therapeutic diet, to the extent state law allows. The wording is the same in the 2017 and 2025 editions; it came in with the 2016 rewrite of the nursing-home requirements, effective 28 November 2016. It says who must review and prescribe; it says nothing about how menus are drafted.

## Source

- U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo) — 42 CFR 483.60, Food and nutrition services (10-1-25 edition; paragraphs (c)(6) and (e) as adopted at 81 FR 68861, 4 October 2016, effective 28 November 2016) — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2025-title42-vol5/pdf/CFR-2025-title42-vol5-sec483-60.pdf (primary source)

## What this means

In US nursing homes, whatever drafts the menu, a qualified nutrition professional has to review it, and a resident's diet is prescribed by a physician or a dietitian the physician has delegated to.

## What it does not show yet

One kind of facility in one country; it does not cover hospitals, schools or private clients, and it does not say who writes an individual's day-by-day plan.

## How to verify it yourself

Open 42 CFR 483.60 in govinfo's 2025 annual edition and find "for nutritional adequacy" in paragraph (c)(6).


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