MEDIA RELEASE: Monday 10 November, 2025
Australia’s leading provider of texture modified food is joining calls to improve food safety for people with swallowing difficulties, following revelations of a sharp increase in the number choking deaths in aged care.
Nutrition technology innovator The Pure Food Co, which supplies texture modified food solutions to more than 500 aged care facilities across the country, says there needs to be greater awareness of the risks faced by the growing number of people with swallowing disorders.
The call comes after data made public yesterday revealed the number of choking deaths in Victorian aged care and disability settings more than doubled during the latest reporting period.
In an alert sent to aged care and health service CEOs in September, Safer Care Victoria (SCV) said choking-related deaths had more than doubled in 2024 compared to the year prior. The advice came after the federal Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission issued a similar national warning to operators in June.
Describing the trend as “an emerging quality and safety risk”, the SCV alert pointed to residents with swallowing difficulties being given unsafe food as a key contributing factor in the deaths.
Speaking in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, Professor Bronwyn Hemsley, who is the head of speech pathology at the University of Technology Sydney, said the spike in choking deaths should be the catalyst for immediate change.
Prof Hemsley, an expert in supporting people with swallowing difficulties in care settings, said: “With each wave, people recommend similar things to resolve it. Without addressing the systemic issues, these premature deaths continue to rise.”
Sam Bridgewater, The Pure Food Co’s co-founder and co-CEO, said the revelations were “a massive wake up call” for the aged care sector.
“Doing texture modified food right every time is really complex and, despite the best of intentions, is something we see a lot of aged care kitchens really struggle with,” Mr Bridgewater said.
“It requires clinical training, specialised equipment and – most importantly – time and resources that aged care kitchens often simply don’t have.
“Getting it wrong can have tragic consequences, as this latest data sadly shows.”
Mr Bridgewater said the new Aged Care Quality Standards that came into force on November 1 mean that the need to properly manage residents with swallowing difficulties has only become more urgent.
“Managing this risk is no longer simply an issue for the kitchen – it’s now a compliance issue the boardroom needs to be right across.”
Under the new quality standards, operators must integrate nutrition, swallowing management and hydration into their clinical care review processes. They must also document how texture modified meals are planned, prepared, presented and evaluated – reflecting the broader shift from “just safe” to “safe, nutritious, appealing and choice-driven”.
“We’ve partnered with operators of all shapes and sizes to help them get ahead of these compliance issues, and work alongside their clinical teams so they can identify and manage risks,” Mr Bridgewater said.
“We’re on the cusp of a huge increase in the number of older Aussies needing specialised support at mealtimes.
“There needs to be far more awareness of the challenges care operators are facing or, sadly, some of society’s most vulnerable people will die entirely preventable deaths.”