Advances in the field of clinical nutrition have introduced a wide range of formulations to the market. Today physicians are faced with a bewildering choice of formulations. Increasingly, patients are being discharged to the community from the restructured hospitals with enteral tube feeding. It is important for the family physician to be familiar with the types of formulations and the different enteral tubes. These tubes need to be changed on a regular basis and the family physician in the community will likely be called upon to provide such services. The enteral route is always preferable to parenteral provided there are no contraindications such as ileus, gastrointestinal ischaemia, or bilious and persistent vomiting. Enteral tubes are easy to insert and cheap, and the insertion can be done at the bedside. It is important to confirm the correct placement of the tube in the stomach before initiating feeding as the tube may be coiled, twisted or malpositioned in the respiratory tract. This can be done by aspiration of the stomach contents and testing it with pH paper. In the case of an unconscious patient, this can be done with a chest X-ray.