Patients at hospitals in Tayside are being fed for less than £1.80 a day.
The startling statistics reveal just £1.69 a day is spent on each patient’s meals at Ninewells less than a cup of tea in the cafe or a minimum parking charge at the hospital car park.
The £1.69 covers breakfast, a three-course lunch and dinner for each of the 995 patients.
Perth Royal Infirmary spent only slightly more at £1.79 per patient.
Both figures are significantly less than the £2.07 a day average spent on prisoners across Scotland in 2012.
Scottish Patients Association chairwoman Margaret Watt said: “This figure is totally unacceptable. People spend more on food for their dogs.
“I would like to see NHS board members having to eat what patients get.
“They should go and have their meals with the patients and then tell us the food is nutritious and good for them.
“People in hospital are ill and they need the best of food while they are recuperating.
“It is clear they are not getting it if hospitals are spending less than £1 on each meal.”
NHS Tayside defended the amount it spends on patients’ meals, saying they were prepared in line with official guidelines.
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said: “The cost of patient meals is monitored through a raft of measures, including the standardisation of recipes, ingredient control and keeping any wastage to a minimum.”