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Tray Menu Tickets (People) - for Non-Select & Advance Ordering - November 2026 Functionality

Kevin U
  • Updated

About Tray Menu Tickets (aka Tray Meal Tickets)

The Tray Menu Tickets report (aka Tray Meal Tickets report) generates menu tickets for resident/patients with the following service types:

tray_menu_ticket_ao_not_ordered.png

What Information is Printed on a Tray Menu Ticket?

Apart from the menu items for the resident/patient (taken from their personal menu), their tray menu ticket also prints the following:

What Items Print on a Ticket for a Resident/Patient with the Advanced Ordering Service Type?

For a resident/patient with the advanced ordering service type, the tray menu ticket does not present items from each menu choice, such as what is available on the front-end ordering apps (Touch app and Portal app) and also seen on their personal menu. Instead, what prints on a tray menu ticket depends if the resident/patient has placed their order or not:

If you want to print menu choices for a resident with the advance ordering service type so that they can make their selections, then use the Person-Specific Select Menus Report instead of the Tray Menu Tickets report. The Person-Specific Select Menus report prints items from each menu choice so that the residents can make their selections, as per screenshot below:

person_specific_nancy.png

How Do I Know the Service Types of Residents/Patients?

On the People Listing screen, you can display the Service Type column so that you can easily see the assigned service types of people for each meal service (breakfast, lunch, dinner). To set columns on the People Listing screen, see Setting Columns on the People Listing Screen. 

service_type_as_column.png

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In addition, you can filter the people to display on the People Listing screen via the Service Type filter. To use filters on the People Listing screen, see Opening and Customizing Your People List (via the People Listing Screen).
service_type_filter.png

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Selecting People to be in the Report

Select the people to be included in the report via the following separate instructions: Selecting People to be Included in Reports.

Report Settings

After selecting the people to be included in the report, select Menus and Tray Tickets > Tray Menu Tickets from the left side of the screen. The Tray Menu Tickets section appears for you to select the report settings.

tray_menu_tickets.png

Content

  • Date - select the date range range from the From and To calendar fields. To enter a single date, keep the same date in each field. 

    Note: Although the system allows a past date or date range to be entered, it is considered a system defect and will be addressed in the future. Generating a ticket from a past date is not guaranteed to be accurate because the system only captures the resident/patient's currently assigned diet order and allergens (and therefore the personal menu customizations as a result) and not past-assigned diet orders and allergens. 
     
  • Meals - select the meal services (breakfast, lunch, dinner) to generate tray menu tickets for.
     
  • People ID - select if you want the Client ID (ID assigned by your facility) or MRN (medical record number from the EHR system) to be displayed in the header. 
     
  • Print ticket for
    • All selected people & meals - prints tickets for all selected resident/patients.
    • Advance order only - select this option to only print tickets for those with advance ordering as a service type and who have placed an order. 

Format

Optional Content

  • Date of Birth - includes the person’s date of birth in the ticket header.
     
  • Allergies - displays a person’s assigned allergens in the header.
     
  • Diet Interventions - includes only the names of a person’s assigned diet interventions in the header. The personal menu customizations (personal menu item, fallback substitute, a do not serve item, or a serving size adjustment) that are added to a personal menu as a result of a diet intervention are not identified as diet interventions. 
     
  • Happy Birthday Message - if the person’s birthday matches the date in the report, then the person’s ticket for that day displays “Happy Birthday” at the top of each ticket (below the header if header is selected to display at the top of the ticket).

    happy_birthday.png
      
  • Diner Photos - if the resident has a photo on their profile (see Uploading, Changing or Deleting a Person's Profile Photo), then the photo will print in the ticket header, as per screenshot below (showing the ticket header displayed at the top of the ticket). 

    photo_menu_ticket.png
     
  • Calories per portion - includes the calories per portion beside each menu item.
     
  • Serving Utensil - for recipes that have serving utensils, displays the serving utensil beside the item in the report (screenshot below). If a recipe does not have a serving utensil, then the text Not Specified is displayed in lieu of non-existent serving utensil (screenshot below). 

    Not_specified.png
     
  • Custom Message - you can enter a message (maximum 20 characters) that displays at the top of each ticket (below the header if header is selected to display at the top of the ticket). For example, for the holiday season, you can enter “Happy Holidays!” as the message.

    custom_message.png

Sorting by Delivery Sequence (for Service)

From the Sort Tickets By drop-down, the Delivery Sequence option is available. This option sorts the tickets according to the Delivery Sequence feature, which allows for the customized sorting of dining areas and their tables and seats, and residence areas that are enabled for room delivery and their rooms and beds. For more information and instructions on setting the sorting for the Delivery Sequence feature, see Setting the Sort Order for People Reports

With the Delivery Sequence option selected, the layout of the tickets in the report depends on the number of meal periods (breakfast, lunch, dinner) selected:

Ticket Layout with One Meal Period Selected

With one meal period selected and the Delivery Sequence sort option selected, the tickets are printed according to the Delivery Sequence feature from top to bottom, filling stack 1 first (left), then stack 2 (middle), and then stack 3 (right). 

one_meal_period_delivery_sequence.png

Ticket Layout with Two Meal Periods Selected

With two meal periods selected and the Delivery Sequence sort option selected, the tickets are generated by meal period stacks, but with an empty third stack for the missing meal period. For example, if the lunch and dinner meal periods are selected, the layout of the report is as follows:

  • Lunch tickets are printed in stack 1 (left) according to the Delivery Sequence feature. 
  • Dinner tickets are printed in stack 2 (middle) according to the Delivery Sequence feature. 
  • Stack 3 (right) is empty. 

two_meal_period_delivery_sequence.png

Because stack 3 will be empty, and results in wasted paper, the system will present a warning message of such to allow you to cancel the report or proceed with two meal periods selected. 

warning_two_meal_periods.png

Ticket Layout with Three Meal Periods Selected

With three meal periods selected and the Delivery Sequence sort option selected, the tickets are generated by meal period stacks:

  • Breakfast tickets are printed in stack 1 (left side) according to the Delivery Sequence feature.
  • Lunch tickets are printed in stack 2 (middle) according to the Delivery Sequence feature. 
  • Dinner tickets are printed in stack 3 (right) according to the Delivery Sequence feature. 

three_meal_period_delivery_sequence.png

Sorting by Room (for Service)

From the Sort Tickets By by drop-down, the Room option is available. For residence areas enabled for room delivery, this option sorts the tickets the according to the layout on the Residence Builder screen, which automatically sorts units by numerical and alphabetical order. 

With the Room option selected, the layout of the tickets in the report depends on the number of meal periods (breakfast, lunch, dinner) selected:

Ticket Layout with One Meal Period Selected

With one meal period selected and the Room sort option selected, the tickets are printed according to the Residence Builder screen from top to bottom, filling stack 1 first (left), then stack 2 (middle), and then stack 3 (right). 

one_meal_period_delivery_sequence.png

Ticket Layout with Two Meal Periods Selected

With two meal periods selected and the Room sort option selected, the tickets are generated by meal period stacks, but with an empty third stack for the missing meal period. For example, if the lunch and dinner meal periods are selected, the layout of the report is as follows:

two_meal_period_delivery_sequence.png

Because stack 3 will be empty, and results in wasted paper, the system will present a warning message of such to allow you to cancel the report or proceed with two meal periods selected. 

warning_two_meal_periods.png

Ticket Layout with Three Meal Periods Selected

With three meal periods selected and the Room sort option selected, the tickets are generated by meal period stacks:

three_meal_period_delivery_sequence.png

Sorting by Person Name (for Reviewing Tickets)

From the Sort Tickets By drop-down, the Person Name option is available. This option is typically for a review of tickets as opposed to service. With this option selected, the tickets are sorted alphabetically by last name, from left to right for each meal period/day combination. This option does not use meal stacks (i.e., all spaces on page are filled). The example below shows the resident Pam B. and her tickets for the Tuesday meal periods on the first page and her tickets for the Wednesday meal periods on the second page.

tray_ticket_person_sorting.png

Invalid Diet Order Message when Generating Report

If one or more persons selected to be in the report have an invalid diet order, then a message appears indicating such when generating the report.

reports_invalid_diet_order.png

You can view which persons have an invalid diet order by opening the People Listing screen (People > People Listing). A person with an invalid diet order has the following icon in the Alerts column: invalid_diet_order.png: 

invalid_symbol.png

Hovering your cursor over icon explains why the diet order is invalid. 

invalid_reason.png

You can open the person's profile and change their diet order as needed. 

For more on what causes an invalid diet order, see the following article: Invalid Diet Orders. 

Report Formatting

Italicized and Underlined Items

Substitute Needed

If an item on a resident/patient's personal menu cannot be served due to an allergen or the item being manually marked as DNS on the personal menu, then the text "Substitute needed" will appear underlined on the report (screenshot below). For solutions to remove or stop the "Substitute needed" text, see Resolving "Substitute Needed" on Personal Menu and Reports.

tray_menu_ticket_sub_needed.png

Service Notes

Any service notes (i.e., daily notes and individual meal period notes) entered for the profile automatically appear on the ticket. 

If you are printing the ticket header at the top of the ticket (by selecting Top for the Ticket Header setting) the service notes print at the bottom of the ticket.  If you are printing the ticket header at the bottom of the ticket (by selecting Bottom for the Ticket Header setting) the service notes print at the top the ticket. 

top_ticket_header.png

service_note.png

bottom_ticket_header.png

service_note_top.png

Why is an Allergy "Unknown"?

When a Connect message contains an unknown allergen from the EHR that remains unresolved (i.e., the EHR allergen is not mapped to a MealSuite allergen group), then the report prefaces the allergy with Unknown:

If there are multiple unknown allergens, then Unknown: is listed once with each unknown allergen listed after. 

About Reusing of Orders (for Advanced Ordering)

For a resident/patient with the advanced ordering service type and who misses placing an order, the system will reuse the same order from the previous same menu week/day/meal service (see Reusing of Past Orders for more information). 

When the system is reusing an order, it is stated on a ticket with the "Reused Order" text and the reused order icon (reuse_icon.png), as shown below. 

tray_menu_ticket_reuse.png

Server Notes for Advanced Orders in the Touch App

When taking an advanced order in the Touch app, the order taker (i.e., server) has the ability to enter a note, and these "server notes" will appear at the bottom of the resident's associated tray menu ticket. When a server has entered a note, the tray menu ticket will preface the note with the text "Server Notes", as per screenshot below.

server_note_tray_menu_ticket.png

FAQs

A tray menu ticket is being skipped (i.e., not generated)? Not all tickets are being printed? Only one ticket printed?

Possible reason 1: The resident or patient may be assigned the table select service type for the meal service (breakfast, lunch, dinner) that you are printing tickets for. The Tray Menu Ticket report only generates for people with the non-select and advance ordering service types.

For more information, see How Do I Know the Service Types of Residents/Patients? above. If needed to assign a resident/patient the non-select or advance ordering service type, see Selecting Service Types (Table Select, Advance Ordering, Non-Select) for Persons.

Possible reason 2: The person could be assigned an NPO diet order or assigned a no meal service.  

Possible reason 3: The person has the advance order service type and could have skipped/refused the meal.

Possible reason 4: A person marked off-premise (LOA) will not be included in the report. You can return the person from LOA: see Manually Marking a Person as On-Premise (Return from LOA).

Possible reason 5: A resident will not appear on a report if that resident profile is archived in the system. To confirm if residents are archived in the system, see Locating Archived Persons. If necessary to unarchive a resident, see Unarchiving a Person. Note: If your account is connected with your EHR system via a MealSuite Connect interface, then profile updates for a resident in the EHR will be reflected for that person's profile in your MealSuite account. As such, if the resident has a discharge status in the EHR, such as what will occur with a leave of absence (LOA), then Connect will archive that profile in your account.

Possible reason 6: The resident is assigned to an "ignored room" in the system. An ignored room is a room that food is not served to (such as an emergency room or outpatient room). 

Possible reason 7: A tray menu ticket will not be generated for a resident/patient if their dining area, or residence area enabled for room delivery is not associated with a menu.

A menu is associated with a dining area/residence area enabled for room delivery via a menu service location (MSL). The MSL can be thought of as the “connecting piece”: the menu is assigned to the MSL and the dining area/residence area enabled for room delivery is assigned to the MSL. 

people_profile_dining_area_MSL_menu.png

When attempting to generate the Tray Menu Tickets report, the following message appears: "Tray Menu Tickets cannot be generated since there are no menu items."

Possible Reason 1: This message most likely indicates that the people selected to be in report do not have the non-select service type or advance ordering service type. The Tray Menu Ticket report only generates for people with the non-select and advance ordering service types. For more information, see How Do I Know the Service Types of Residents/Patients? above. If needed to assign a resident/patient the non-select or advance ordering service type, see Selecting Service Types (Table Select, Advance Ordering, Non-Select) for Persons.

Possible Reason 2: If you have the Only Print for Advance Orders check box selected, and the people selected to be in the report are all advance ordering service type and have not yet placed an order, then the "No Menu Items" message will appear. Therefore, clear the Only Print for Advance Order check box. 

Possible Reason 3: If you have confirmed that persons with the non-select and advance ordering service types are selected to be in the report, then it could be that their assigned dining area, or residence area enabled for room delivery, is not associated with a menu.

A menu is associated with a dining area/residence area enabled for room delivery via a menu service location (MSL). The MSL can be thought of as the “connecting piece”: the menu is assigned to the MSL and the dining area/residence area enabled for room delivery is assigned to the MSL. 

people_profile_dining_area_MSL_menu.png

I extended a recipe with therapeutic substitute items. Why am I not seeing those items on the tray menu ticket of residents/patients with therapeutic diet orders?

Menu item extensions take precedence over the recipe extensions. Therefore, if you extended a recipe with therapeutic substitute items, then you need to ensure those changes are synched to the recipe's associated menu item. See Updating Menu Item Extensions with the Recipe Extensions. 

For more on extensions and the relationship between a recipe and its associated menu item, see Overview of Recipe Extensions (i.e., Therapeutic Substitutes).

Why did the supplement for a resident/patient not print on the tray menu ticket?

Because a supplement is treated as a personal menu item for a resident/patient (see How are Supplements Assigned to a Resident or Patient?), check to see if the resident/patient is still assigned the supplement on their personal menu (see Opening a Personal Menu); it could be their diet order was changed that warranted the removal of the supplement. 

What causes "Substitute Needed" text to display on a ticket? How do I stop "Substitute Needed" from displaying?

If an item or items for a day/meal period/menu category on a resident/patient's personal menu cannot be served due to an allergen or the item being manually marked as DNS on the personal menu, then the text "Substitute Needed" will appear underlined on the ticket. For more information, and solutions to resolve "Substitute Needed" text, see the following article: Resolving "Substitute Needed" on Personal Menu and Reports.

My resident/patient is on the advanced ordering service type. Why is a menu category not printing?

A menu category will not print if that category is set as "do not serve" (DNS). When a "do not serve" is created, it is then considered a customization in the person's personal menu. To see items set as DNS on a personal menu (i.e., crossed-out), ensure the Display Excluded Items option is set via the Display Options. To remove a "do not serve" customization from a personal menu, see Removing a Personal Menu Customization. 

If you have confirmed that the menu category is not set as "do not serve", then it means there are no items in an active menu to serve to that resident's diet order (diet type/texture type). This scenario is explained as follows: 

Note that if you open the personal menu for the resident/patient, the menu category will be blank if the above conditions are met instead of not showing at all.

My resident/patient is on the non-select service type. Why is a menu category not printing?

It could be that on the standard scheduled menu, the items are not in choice 1 (i.e., they are instead in choice 2). Confirm the choice of the items in the category, and change to choice 1 if needed. See Choices for a Menu Item.

If you have confirmed that there is a choice 1 item in the category, and the menu category is still blank, then confirm if the category is set as "do not serve" (DNS). When a "do not serve" is created, it is then considered a customization in the person's personal menu. To see items set as DNS on a personal menu (i.e., crossed-out), ensure the Display Excluded Items option is set via the Display Options. To remove a "do not serve" customization from a personal menu, see Removing a Personal Menu Customization. 

If you have confirmed that the menu category is not set as "do not serve", then it means there are no items in an active menu to serve to that resident's diet order (diet type/texture type). This scenario is explained as follows: 

Note that if you open the personal menu for the resident/patient, the menu category will be blank if the above conditions are met instead of not showing at all.

A menu item is not being printed on a ticket/label for my resident/patient?

If a menu item is not being printed for a resident/patient, check the following:

A resident is being served a recipe/item not on the menu?

This most likely indicates the resident is on a therapeutic diet order, and as such the system is offering the therapeutic substitute recipe that has been extended for the regular recipe that is on the menu. For example, if Salisbury Steak is the regular recipe on the menu, then its therapeutic substitute for the Easy to Chew texture type is Curried Chicken.

If the resident is on a fluid type, then this most likely means the regular fluid recipe is extended with fluid thickened substitutes, and therefore that substitute is appearing on the ticket. To view the fluid substitution grid of a fluid recipe, see Accessing Fluid Substitution Grid for a Fluid Recipe. From there you can clear the fluid type cell of the substitute. 

An item is showing on the report but I believe should not be due to the person's assigned allergen?

A recipe (i.e., menu item) is associated with an allergen group via one or more of its ingredients. If an item is not removed from the report that you believe should be removed due to the assigned allergen on the person's profile, then first confirm if the recipe is associated with that allergen group. To do see Viewing Allergens Associated with a Recipe.

allergen_groups_recipe.png

allergens_group_generic.png

If the recipe is associated with a different allergen group than the allergen group currently assigned to the profile, then you can assign the correct allergen group to the profile. See Assigning Allergens to a Person.

or

If the recipe is not associated with what you believe is the correct allergen group assigned to the profile, then you can associate the recipe to the correct allergen group by adding the affected ingredient to the allergen group. See Adding Food Items to Allergen Group. 

How do I change the sort order of the menu categories on a tray card/ticket?

You can change the sort order of menu categories across all areas of the system and reports. Menu categories cannot be sorted for an individual report. To change the sort order of menu categories in the system and all reports, see Changing Sort Order of Menu Categories.

Can I sort the report by diet type or texture type?

No. You cannot sort the report by diet type or texture type. 

Why is the text "Not Specified" printing with an item?

The Serving Utensil option is selected. For recipes that have serving utensils, the serving utensil is displayed with the item (screenshot below). If a recipe does not have a serving utensil, then the text Not Specified is displayed in lieu of the non-existent serving utensil. 

Not_specified.png

Why are therapeutic items (extensions) not printing for my non-regular diet orders?

For residents/patients with the non-select service type, confirm the item-selection logic method that is selected for your account. It could be you have the "Serve a Full Choice so Items are Paired Together" method selected, which means the system will serve a full choice meal. A full choice meal consists of all items from the same choice (i.e., all items in choice 1 equal a full choice meal; all items in choice 2 equal a full choice meal, etc.).

If so, you will want to change the item-selection logic to the "Serve Choice 1 Items Before Offering Other Choices" method.

For more information on the item-selection logic methods for the non-select service type, and instructions on changing methods, see Non-Select Service Type: Item Selection Logic for a Personal Menu.

If a menu is scheduled to be active in the future, will tray menu tickets still generate?

Yes. If a menu is scheduled to be active on a future date, tray menu tickets will still generate. 

Can disliked items be hidden from a tray menu ticket?

No. Disliked items on a resident/patient's personal menu are automatically displayed on a tray menu ticket. There is no indication on the ticket if an item is a dislike. 

A personal menu item that is configured to be automatically added to an order was removed from the order in the Touch app and/or Portal App. Why does that personal menu item still appear on the tray menu ticket?

Background info: When a personal menu item is added to a resident/patient's personal menu, there is the option to have it automatically be added to the order via the Select item by default in orders option. Such items are automatically added to an order on the front-end ordering apps (Touch app and Portal app), but can be removed from the order if desired. 

If such a personal menu item is removed from the order, then note that on a tray menu ticket, the personal menu item does not get removed. Personal menu items appear as italicized, and if not ordered by the user, will not appear with the order icon (i.e., green check mark icon). In the example screenshot below of a tray menu ticket, the Pineapple Juice is a personal menu item (as it is italicized), but it has not been ordered (as it does not appear with the green check mark icon). 

tray_menu_ticket_personal_not_ordered.png

Items are being printed for a resident/patient, but I don't see those items in their personal menu?

Items on a resident/patient's personal menu will print on a report/label. Therefore if items are being printed that you do not see in a personal menu, it most likely means the personal menu is set not to display the item(s). Via the Display Options of the personal menu, you can configure the following to display/not display:

  • Snack items
  • Also available items
  • Specific menu categories

I made a serving size adjustment on personal menu for a resident/patient with the AO service type; however the tray menu ticket does not reflect the adjustment?

If you made a serving size adjustment for a resident/patient with the AO service type, and that adjustment is not reflected on the tray menu ticket, then it means the order is a reuse order. A reuse order will not reflect a serving size adjustment. For the serving size adjustment to be reflected, the order needs to be retaken in the Touch app.  

See also: General FAQs for all People Reports

Differences Between a Tray Menu Ticket and a Ticket Printed at a KMS Station

The table below lists the differences between the information displayed on a tray menu ticket versus a ticket printed at a KMS station printer sent via a front-end ordering app that can place advanced orders (Touch app, Portal app). To access a PDF of the information below that you can distribute as needed, click here.

Information Tray Menu Ticket Printed Ticket Sent to KMS via Front-End Ordering App (Touch app, Portal app)
Diet order Yes Yes (optional - via KMS station settings)
Diet intervention name Yes (optional) Yes (optional - via KMS station settings)
Allergies Yes (optional) Yes
Modifiers Yes Yes
Nutrients No Yes (optional)
Calories per portion Yes (optional) Yes (optional)
Serving utensil Yes (optional) No
Service Notes (i.e., daily notes and individual meal period notes) Yes Yes (optional - via KMS station settings)
Profile notes No Yes (optional - via KMS station settings)
Personal notes on menu items Yes Yes
Server notes for AO order placed in Touch Yes Yes
Reuse order indicator for AO order Yes No
Placed order indicator for AO order Yes No
Photos Yes (optional) No
Date of Birth Yes (optional) Yes (optional)
Happy Birthday Message Yes (optional) No
Custom message  Yes (optional) No