§ 2827. Plant-based food options. 1. Upon request by a patient or the
patient's lawful representative in a hospital providing inpatient or
residential care, the hospital shall offer the patient a plant-based
food option as an alternative to every meal or snack offered in food
service to the patient. All the hospital's written material describing
food offerings shall include the availability of a plant-based food
option. The plant-based food option shall be offered at no additional
cost to the patient beyond what would be charged for a comparable
non-plant-based food option.

2. The hospital shall respond in a reasonable manner and time to any
request made under this section. The request shall be effective for
every hospital meal or snack in which the patient is reasonably expected
to participate. This section does not preclude the offering of
plant-based food options to patients who have not requested it, and does
not preclude an individual who has requested a plant-based food option
from selecting a non-plant-based food option.

3. As used in this section:

(a) "Plant-based food option" means a food or beverage that is free of
animal products and that has nutritional value comparable to the
non-plant-based food option that it replaces.

(b) "Animal product" means meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, eggs, honey,
and any derivative thereof.

4. This section shall not apply to patient nutritional support
products including, but not limited to, infant formulas, nutritional
modulars, oral nutritional supplements, enteral nutrition formulas, and
parenteral or intravenous nutrition, prescribed or ordered by a health
care professional, licensed, certified or otherwise authorized to
practice under title eight of the education law, acting within the
professional's lawful scope of practice. However, where a request is
made under subdivision one of this section, and a health care
professional is considering prescribing or ordering a patient
nutritional support product under this subdivision, the health care
professional shall consider and advise the requester whether a medically
suitable plant-based food option is reasonably available.