Viral photo of 'disgusting' care home food prompts apology

A son's photograph of "disgusting" food given to his mother at a sheltered housing complex has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social networking sites.

Steve Ashton, 40, posted a picture on Facebook of the corned beef and jacket potato served to his 81-year-old mother, Joan, at Aneurin Bevan Court - part of the sheltered housing scheme at Newport City Homes.

Along with the image, he commented: "I am disgusted with the low-quality food that this facility is being allowed to serve. Don't the elderly people in this place deserve to have good food that is catered for all?

"It is my mission to get the food at this place changed and to get them serving high-quality food."

The image has since been shared more than 130,000 times on Facebook, with one user commenting: "I wouldn't feed that to my dog."

Joan moved into Aneurin Bevan Court eight months ago, with son Steve praising both the care and the staff.

He told ITV News: "The care my mother receives at Aneurin Bevan Court is not in question and all the staff at the facility are fantastic."

But his mother, he said, had frequently complained about the quality of the food.

Steve, from Newport, said: "My mum struggles being able to chew food and generally it's hard work for her and hard work finding food for her to eat, so when she was complaining to me every day about the food she is given at Aneurin Bevan Court I just thought it was because she was very fussy - until I saw this meal."

He also shared a second picture of a lasagne that he said was "full of oil, and the meat wasn't very good".

Care residents pay £42 a week for food, which includes two-course meals six days a week and a three-course meal on Sundays, and applies even if residents are on holiday and do not require a meal.

Steve said he had taken to Facebook because initially the care provider "didn't seem to think there was a massive problem at the residence with regards to the food."

Now care chiefs have apologised for the corned beef meal and agreed to bring in changes to the food.

The planned improvements include new measures to ensure residents can give feedback more easily and the introduction of additional options provided by caterers for residents away during scheduled meal times – in order to provide appetising cold or re-heatable meals.

Staff at Aneurin Bevan Court will also be briefed to support residents as they fill out their menu choices.