Mrs Murrie issued a public challenge to MidCentral District Health Board chief executive Murray Georgel to eat his hospital's fare after a letter of complaint wasn't replied to.
"The CE's on something like $450,000 a year - I would suggest he's never had to eat what his hospital serves up. Could he survive on that food for two weeks? I don't think so."
Mrs Murrie said she understood the hospital had to provide for a wide range of dietary needs and patients should not expect five-star treatment - but the food should at least be edible.
Fruit or other garden salads or cornflakes and milk would have been simple changes, she said.
Mr Georgel - who a MidCentral DHB spokesman said earned about $520,000 - turned down the challenge. Initially, a spokesman for Mr Georgel said he had "chosen not to reply".
TWO MENUS
The hospital "how to lose 10kg in two weeks vegetarian diet":
Breakfast: Cold porridge.
Lunch: Congealed red kidney beans.
Dinner: A repeat of lunch, with vegetables.
A typical prison menu
Breakfast: 30g cornflakes, 3 pieces of toast, 15g margarine, 20g spread, 1tsp bran, 35g sugar, tea.
Lunch: 3 sandwiches - 1 cheese and onion, 1 spaghetti, 1 vegemite; 1 piece fruit; tea.
Dinner: Italian saveloys, spaghetti, 2 vegetables, tomato and garlic sauce, 1 piece fruit, milk, tea.
Supper (provided with dinner): 2 slices bread, 15g margarine.
Source: Corrections Department, for males. 2007 data