Liquidised food IDDSI Level 3

IDDSI is the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative.

Why is this food texture needed?

Liquidised foods may be used if you have difficulty moving your tongue or difficulties with movement of the food from your oesophagus (food pipe) to your stomach.

Seek help about nutrition when using this texture to be sure you are getting the right amount of nutrients to meet your needs.

What is liquidised food?

• Food that has a smooth texture with no ‘bits’ (lumps, fibre, husk, bits of shell or skin, particles of gristle or bone)
• Can be eaten with a spoon or drunk from a cup.
• Cannot be eaten with a fork because it drips through the fork prongs.
• Some effort required to suck it through a standard size straw
• Cannot be piped, layered or moulded on a plate or eaten with a fork
• No chewing required and can be swallowed directly.

Liquidised food IDDSI Level 3 Preparation

• Liquidise food using a blender or food processor and then sieve
• Make sure there are no lumps.
• Always liquidise foods with extra liquids such as gravy, milk or single cream or stock. (Try not to use water as this reduces the goodness in the food).
• Cut food into small chunks and liquidise small amounts of food at a time to avoid lumps.
• A thickener may be added to maintain thickness.
• Remove tough skins and large seeds before you liquidise.

Examples of foods that can be liquidised

Useful resources

• The Caroline Walker Trust (opens in a new tab) for information and guidance to encourage eating well.
• Wiltshire Farm Foods (opens in a new tab) for ready prepared, frozen puree meals that can be delivered to your home and that you will need to liquidise to achieve the correct consistency.
• It’s made for you for ready prepared frozen puree meals that can be delivered to your home and that you will need to liquidise to achieve the correct consistency: IDDSI Meals (itsmadeforyou.co.uk) (opens in a new tab)
• Recipe books about purée foods that can be liquidised:
  • The Dysphagia Cookbook by E Achilles.
  • Easy to swallow, easy to chew cookbook: over 150 tasty and nutritious recipes for people who have difficulty swallowing by D Weihofen.
  • Puree Foods with Substance and style by JW Richman.
  • The Puree Gourmet: A cookbook for purée food that look and taste delicious by JW Richman.

If you have any questions please speak to your speech and language therapist directly or contact the Speech and Language Therapy Department on 01223 216200.

References / sources of evidence

© The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative 2019 @ The IDDSI framework (opens in a new tab). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.