You are what you eat
The food service industry is facing growing demands for healthier eating options and more transparency on nutritional information. Government caterers need to consider how they respond, says Eileen Steinbock, head of nutrition at the Brakes Group.
The bill facing government for Britons’ unhealthy lifestyles is big and getting bigger. Obesity alone costs the NHS more than £5billion a year with experts warning this could double by 2050. The diagnosis is simple – as a nation we’re not eating well and we’re not doing enough exercise. The prognosis is less certain.
Pressure is coming from many different directions for change. Whether it’s opinion formers in the media, celebrity chefs, or policy makers, the big question of the nation’s diet is at the top of the agenda. And that’s not to mention the people doing the eating – whether in restaurants and cafes or in schools and hospitals.
There’s a growing recognition among public sector caterers that demand for healthier food and more nutritional information is set to grow. The price of failure is simply too high, and the potential benefits of success too attractive.
To date, the Government’s approach has been based more on nudging consumers than nannying them; working in partnership with the food industry rather than adopting for heavy regulation or new legislation. The Department of Health’s latest announcement of responsibility deals which mix voluntary change, such as putting calorie values on menus and reducing salt content, with corporate responsibility, as shown in the reduction of transfats through the removal of hydrogenated vegetable oils, is a case in point.
No one would rule out compulsory measures to force people to make diet and lifestyle changes, however. While the emphasis at the moment is on encouraging voluntary behaviour change through programmes such as Change4life (http://www.nhs.uk/change4life and in Wales http://wales.gov.uk/hcwsubsite/healthchallenge/individuals/change/?lang=en) there could be more regulation in the future.
Pressure also looks likely to be increased on suppliers to do their bit. Early indications suggest this is most likely to come through more rigorous government buying standards both for nutrition (lower fat, salt and sugar options; greater provision of fresh fruit and vegetables) and also sustainability with requirements that government catering suppliers incorporate foods meeting standards such as the MSC (http://www.msc.org) and Red Tractor (http://www.redtractor.org.uk).
At Brakes we’ve been paying close attention to this issue for decades and nutrition is now embedded into all aspects of our business. Over 20 years ago we became the first foodservice company to have a dedicated dietician. Since then we’ve taken steps to reduce the salt content of all our food and now have more than 50 products in our Healthier Choices range all of which meet strict fat, salt and sugar criteria. We also maintain a database of nutritional information for 6,000 Brakes products.
We work closely with public sector caterers to help them enhance the healthy options on their menus. But it’s important to also remember some of the small changes which can easily be introduced into a kitchen – but which can make a big difference to your healthy eating credentials.
One of the easiest wins is of course adding more fruit and vegetables to menus. Reducing portion sizes is another option. By serving a range of three or four mini desserts, for example, you can reduce your total portion size, without the customer feeling short changed. Putting chips in an individual container has the same effect.
At the same time you can increase the proportion of healthy constituents of a meal such as salad garnishes. Switching to alternatives to oil based dressings, such as parsley, lemon or fruit, can also help.
How you cook food also makes difference. Consider grilling meat rather than frying it, for example, as this helps reduce the fat content. You could try leaner cuts of meat too, and trim off any visible fat.
When planning main course menus it’s important to widen the number of healthy choices you make available. Have plenty of alternatives to side orders of chips or fried potatoes, say pasta or rice instead. Similarly, drinks such as water and fruit juice make for healthier options compared to cordials or fizzy drinks. And you could offer fruit based desserts or choices that are low in fat and sugar.
Public Sector customers tell us they want to widen choice for those they serve and improve transparency. There are opportunities presented by the trend towards healthier eating and the growing demand for nutritional information – especially in the ongoing drive to deliver more sustainable government. It’s important to be aware of the pressures that exist, how tastes and attitudes are changing, and how we can respond appropriately.
How are you ensuring your organisation eats well? Are the cuts affecting what you are serving up to your colleagues? What are your views on sustainable healthy menus – is such a concept feasible? www.public-sector.co.uk would like to know your thoughts, please email us at info@public-sector.co.uk.