HOSPITALS are spending as little as 94 pence on patient meals, with many health boards cutting costs by buying in cheaper meat, fish, fruit and vegetables from abroad.

The details emerged in under a freedom of information request by the BBC.

NHS Grampian spent £3.50 per day which it said broke down as 94p for each of the two main meals and £1.62 for snacks and drinks. It also sourced 50 per cent of its frozen food from overseas last year and 40 per cent of the products in its chilled food contract also came from abroad.

Professor Mike Lean, chair of human nutrition at Glasgow University, said: "There must be a lower limit below which quality will be sacrificed in a variety of ways.

"Meal quality has a number of elements: it has to look good, taste good, texture must be good and it has a biological importance - so it must be nutritionally good."

Daily spending on meals in other health boards ranged from £2.80 to £3.40 per day in Dumfries and Galloway £2.80 to £3.40, £3.18 by NHS Borders, £3.20 by NHS Ayrshire and Arran to £6.82 in NHS Shetland.

Health boards said food was purchased via national procurement contracts to get the best deals possible, and that low costs did not necessarily reflect poor quality.

NHS Lothian stressed that its cheapest meals were served at St John's Hospital but the kitchen was "widely recognised for the high quality meals" provided.

The most recent Scottish Care Experience Survey found that 18 per cent of patient were not happy with the food they had received

The FOI also revealed that 12 out of 14 health boards said they were importing chicken from Thailand and carrots from Belgium.

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said: "We have a set of very rigorous nutritional guidelines that we expect all boards to adhere to.

"There will be differences in terms of price but we do expect that the nutritional guidelines will be adhered to."