CareEZ
Dignified nutrition and clinical safety for older adults.
A Hong Kong social enterprise built on HKCSS 護食標準 (照護食) and IDDSI.
CareEZ develops care-food products and point-of-care AI tools for swallowing safety, deployed across 200+ partner facilities in Hong Kong. Our work is grounded in Hong Kong's own 照護食 standard (HKCSS Care Food Working Group) and the international IDDSI clinical framework, governed as a public asset.
A Hong Kong social enterprise serving care settings across the city
CareEZ is the operating social enterprise name of Carewells Limited, a company registered under the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Directory. We design and deliver two complementary programmes: care-food products (照護食) that meet the HKCSS 護食標準 and IDDSI international dysphagia standard, and an AI-assisted swallowing-safety platform for point-of-care clinical use.
Our work addresses a structural gap in Hong Kong's care ecosystem: the absence of affordable, standardised, clinically safe nutrition options in residential care homes, day-care centres, and community meal programmes. Every product and tool we develop is governed to remain accessible as a public-good resource, not extracted as a commercial asset.
CareEZ Senior Deli is registered on HK Tree Mark #83, Hong Kong's social enterprise quality mark. We operate as a HKSTP-affiliated tech startup and hold a HKSAR TechUp grant of HKD 600,000 awarded in 2025 to accelerate AI programme development. The broader knowledge base for this work is maintained at dysphagia.cn — a free multilingual IDDSI and 照護食 reference resource.
Two integrated programmes, one mission
CareEZ delivers care-food (照護食) and clinical AI tools under the same social enterprise governance and public-asset commitment.
SeniorDeli
Texture-modified food products (照護食) formulated for older adults with swallowing difficulties (dysphagia). Products are IDDSI-compliant, aligned with HKCSS 護食標準, and T/SATA 094 credentialed, designed for use in residential care homes, day-care centres, and community meal programmes across Hong Kong.
Distributed through 200+ partner facilities. Available in standardised powder and portion formats for consistent clinical preparation and cost-effective facility-scale deployment.
Swallowing Safety AI
An AI-assisted screening and monitoring programme for swallowing safety, designed for point-of-care deployment in care settings. The programme uses validated clinical indicators to support care staff in identifying swallowing risk and guiding safe diet texture selection for residents.
Developed under the CareEZ umbrella with HKSTP tech startup support and HKSAR TechUp grant funding. AI assistant accessible via browser and WhatsApp Business (Year 1 deployment). The live classification API powers the interactive demo below.
Try the live demo →Try the live classification API
The IDDSI texture-classification engine is live and publicly callable. Two endpoints are available today: one returns the IDDSI level and 照護食 (護食標準) equivalent for a food description, the other performs a thickener dosage calculation for a target IDDSI liquid level. The interactive demo at demo.careez.org calls these same endpoints in real time — no mock data, no hardcoded responses.
curl -s -X POST \
https://www.seniordeli.com/api/iddsi-classify \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"description":"steamed egg custard, soft, spoonable"}'
curl -s -X POST \
https://www.seniordeli.com/api/iddsi-classify \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"description":"orange juice, thickened to IDDSI Level 2 mildly thick, 200ml"}'
Both endpoints return JSON with iddsi_level, label_en,
label_zh_hk (照護食 / 護食標準 terminology), and a rationale field.
No API key required for evaluation calls. Full documentation and OpenAPI spec available at
seniordeli.com.
The demo at demo.careez.org
demonstrates end-to-end carer-facing UX built on top of this API.
Live API · response in real-time · no PHI stored
We keep public-good health infrastructure public
CareEZ is structured as a social enterprise because clinical nutrition standards and AI safety tools for vulnerable populations must not be locked behind commercial barriers. The following principles govern how we operate and how any future funding or partnership is structured.
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We do not take equity that extracts value No investor terms that transfer clinical IP or pricing control away from the social enterprise governance structure.
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We do not gate access by affordability Products and tools are priced or subsidised for accessibility across all partner facility tiers, including subsidised care homes.
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We do not commercialise patient data All clinical data collected via the AI programme remains within the care setting and is not monetised or sold to third parties.
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We do not dilute clinical standards for commercial convenience IDDSI compliance, HKCSS 護食標準 alignment, and T/SATA 094 credential requirements are non-negotiable across all product formulations and facility deployments.
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We do not accept funding that contradicts our mission Grant and impact funding terms are reviewed against our SED registration requirements and Tree Mark obligations before acceptance.
Recognised by Hong Kong’s leading clinical and innovation bodies
dysphagia.cn ↗
HKCSS Tree Mark ↗
Enquiries Welcome
For partnership, impact funding, and clinical deployment enquiries.