Nibbles

Food Safety & Nutrition Live, Wednesday 14 March 2012, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

This national one-day conference will cover a range of 'hot topics' and provide you with the latest information and practical advice on food safety and nutrition within the catering setting. The conference will be ideal for caterers from throughout Scotland as well as other professionals with an interest in catering and food safety.  

This event is organised by Medica CPD in association with The Food Standards Agency, REHIS, The University of Glasgow, Cordia, Glasgow Life, healthyliving award, Hospital Caterers Association, National Association of Care Catering and Catering in Scotland magazine.

For a conference leaflet or to book, contact:

Online – www.medicacpd.com
Email – carolyn@medicacpd.com or riikka@medicacpd.com 
Telephone – 0141 270 8098 or 07966 561474 / 07967 479152

News bites

Workplace restaurant healthier options trial

By John Mooney1 and Dionne Mackison2
1Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy
2Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, University of Dundee

Increasing consumption of healthier meal options is a challenge that many caterers face. There is good evidence from published work in other countries that pricing discounts for healthier meals can be one way to encourage consumers to select healthy choices.

However, the practical ways in which incentives might be used and what impact they have remains to be tested in Scottish worksites.

A new feasibility study funded by the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy will explore ways that incentives might be used. The project will proceed in three phases:

  1. For each participating site, the researchers will explore with on-site caterers and staff representatives which pricing/promotion incentives would be most suitable to use in their workplace.
  2. Once the design has been agreed for the 12-week intervention, consenting patrons of the workplace restaurant will receive brief pre and post-trial questionnaires covering their expectations, impressions and perceptions of the promotion.
  3. Data will be collated for the sales of the healthier options, and the feedback from the questionnaires will be used to organise focus-group discussions about which aspects were felt to work well and which could have been improved.

Throughout the project, the emphasis will be on obtaining insights from both catering staff and employees on what works best as a means of incentivising healthier options in workplace restaurants.

The lessons learned are likely to have major implications for all those concerned with trying to improve dietary choices in general and for worksites in particular. This is an area that is recognised as having increasing importance in public health, and the results will be of widespread national and international interest.

If you are interested in learning more about the study or have experiences of similar interventions in your own catering facility, then we would love to hear from you (on 01382 496444 or d.z.mackison@dundee.ac.uk).

Table talk

One step at a time leads to success

One of the most remote of our recent award winners is Scourie Guest House in Sutherland.

Owners Ken and Madeline Stephen waited for a quiet time to sit down and go through the guidance pack together. Ken explained: “We just took it step by step. It was really not difficult, and we could always email the healthyliving award team with any queries we had.”

Their commitment has paid off, and their guests can now be assured of healthier menus as well as a great place to stay. www.scourieguesthouse.btinternet.co.uk 

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Food Service Sector
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Customers
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issue twenty-one:
February 2012
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The healthyliving awardNHS Health Scotland - Scotland's health improvement agencyHealthier Scotland - Scottish GovernmentHealthier Scotland - Scottish Government