Hospitals are trying to increase menu choice for patients

That is almost a 50% increase of such wastage over the past three years.

The figures emerged in response to parliamentary questions on hospital food asked by Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

He said nurses should be made responsible for ensuring patients eat properly. Government said some waste was unavoidable.

We have to over-supply because we don't know who is going to want the chicken korma and who is going to want cauliflower cheese A Department of Health spokesman

A spokesman said much of it was down to efforts to give patients more choice of menus.

"A lot of the wastage is stuff that never even reaches patients.

"Three or four dishes go up to the ward for patients to choose what they want.

"We have to over-supply because we don't know who is going to want the chicken korma and who is going to want cauliflower cheese.

He said the department accept that some patients were not eating well enough in hospital.

"To improve this the 'better hospital food' programme in the NHS has improved quality, access and availability of food.

He said the introduction of 'protected mealtimes' across the NHS had also helped.

Anne Benson from the Royal College of Nursing said: "The RCN supports protected mealtimes.

"It's an initiative which allows nurses and other healthcare workers to ensure that all patients receive food they wish to eat, and if required supported to eat.

"Such initiatives reduce food wastage and more importantly, they contribute significantly to the physical, psychological and cultural well being of patients. Nurses and other healthcare workers play a crucial role within the multidisciplinary team to ensure this happens."

More choice

The Hospital Caterers Association, spearheaded by former MasterChef star Lloyd Grossman, recently said it wanted to see the NHS provide a "hotel-style" food experience.

Some hospitals have been redesigning their menus to offer up to 50 main course meal options.

Hospital food facts About �500m is spent on hospital food in England each year - about 60p per meal The NHS serves about 300 million meals a year Patients recovering from illness or surgery needed more than the normal daily intake of 2,000 calories

Doctors have also been calling for more food choices for patients.

At the British Medical Association's junior doctors conference last month, they called on celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to make-over hospital food following his success with school dinners.

Andrew Lansley said: "This is a serious waste of NHS resources. It is also concerning that patients, who should be building up their strength, are becoming undernourished.

"It raises questions about the continuity of care and the importance of giving responsibility to nurses, who could ensure resources are used correctly and patients are eating properly."