Inmates and human rights activists claim the meatloaf-like food “nutraloaf” is against the Constitution’s 8th Amendment.

In the 1800s, U.S. prisoners commonly lived on bread and water unless they behaved well to get tastier foods. Using bland food to control behavior continues today, but now inmates and human rights activists claim the meatloaf-like food “nutraloaf” is against the Constitution’s 8th Amendment.

Nutraloaf’s made differently depending on the institution doing the cooking. Meats, vegetables, beans, potatoes, and possibly some “dairy blend” are typically pureed together, shaped into a loaf, and baked. With over 1,000 calories, it’s loaded with nutrients, but no seasoning.

After tasting Cook County’s version, a Chicago food critic said he didn’t feel good afterwards. The texture reminded him of “something you dissected in biology class.” Besides being visually unappealing and speeding up digestion, the main complaint is repeatedly eating, sometimes for weeks, something with zero flavor.

The monotony is why it works according to many jails. Sheriff David Clarke explained, “If you're up on a first-degree murder charge, or some serious sexual assault of a child, you don't have much to lose in jail.” He said, after nutraloaf, the number of “fights, disorder, of attacks against our staff started to drop tremendously.”

Inmates have increasingly challenged nutraloaf in the courts. Though grue was outlawed in the 1970s, inmates have lost all the nutraloaf lawsuits.