NHS patients receiving hospital food that has been in the freezer for a year

Patients eat meals at the hospital, cooked months before, then frozen.

About half of the NHS's hot foods are purchased from external suppliers.

Fears were expressed about mbad-produced dishes after a listeriosis outbreak in May, which killed five patients.

About one-fifth of all hot meals served in NHS hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales are prepared by the private Apetito Company in Trowbridge, Wilts region and are shipped up to 650 miles.

Patients from about 430 hospitals receive 46,000 warmed ready meals from this company.

Foods are kept in freezers for an average of two months, while unusual product lines can be kept for up to a year.

But activists are skeptical about heated meals.

Rob Percival, of the Soil Association, said, "Health Secretary Matt Hanbad said the best hospitals are those that serve freshly prepared meals – and we agree."

However, Apetito's director, Paul Freeston, said the perception of mbad-produced frozen products was "outdated".

He insists that he is safer than cooking meals on the spot because the bacteria are tested before being served.

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs pointed out that a "thorough review" had been requested by the Secretary of Health to make practical recommendations on food in hospitals in the coming months.

"The government will work with the NHS to build on recent progress to ensure that food served and sold in hospitals is safe, healthy, nutritious and helps patients recover," said a spokesperson.