Indeed, that is intentional. The hospital is indeed what most people would normally use, except when they cannot. That is, when you're trying to get a boss kill, you may not be able to heal as quickly as needed, and that is when you eat food to regain HP. As for additional food items, it did not seem very necessary now that you can consume more than one food item at a time, unless it were one that healed fully, which is under consideration for a small RC fee (3-6 credits is the amount currently being considered).