Welcome to Coretalk

This spring edition is winging its way to you hot on the heels of the healthyliving award ceremony where our new award holders were presented with certificates.

It was a real pleasure for our team members to meet so many hard working and dedicated clients at Hampden Stadium. Congratulations to you all, we hope you enjoyed the ceremony as much as we did.

Photographs taken at the event have been posted on our Facebook page. If you were there, please take a look and feel free to tag yourself.

We have been busy trying to ensure that all of our registered NHS sites achieve either the healthyliving award or healthyliving award plus by the end of March, and we appreciate the hard work and dedication that many people have put in to make this happen.

In this edition, you can find out about the work Visit Scotland is doing this year with Scottish caterers, and how you can support breastfeeding mothers in your establishment.

We also learn about Burnfoot Community Café who have sent us a delicious recipe for chicken and vegetable curry.

What’s cooking?

Governing by Example

Taking their own policy into account and leading by example, four Scottish Government staff restaurants have achieved healthyliving award plus.

Sodexo hold the catering contract at all four of these restaurants and have long been supportive of the award.

In the 2010 ‘Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland: A Route Map towards Healthy Weight’ policy document, the government encouraged all public and private sector employers with staff dining to participate in the healthyliving award.

In December, the Scottish Government showed its commitment to healthier eating by successfully attaining the higher level of award at the Saughton House, Victoria Quay and Atlantic Quay staff restaurants, while St Andrews House restaurant achieved it earlier in 2013.

The healthyliving award plus retains the same overarching goals of the standard level, with key criteria including:

  • 70% of all food served must meet the healthyliving criteria
  • 50% of the choices in each section of the menu must meet healthyliving criteria – starters, for example
  • The range of crisps, confectionary and sugary drinks will be kept to a minimum
  • The promotion of non-healthyliving items will be kept to a minimum

This means that when staff visit any of the restaurants they can be confident they will be find a wide range of healthier food choices to suit different tastes.

“Sodexo recognises the importance of providing varied, delicious and nutritious healthy options for our customers across our range of services and does so through its own Healthwise philosophy. The healthyliving award supports this philosophy, with the award criteria based on the general principles of a healthy balanced diet,’ said Joe Aitken, Sodexo Business Manager.

“As an organisation, Sodexo has contributed to the award from its conception and is fully engaged with the wider government policy, which we can play a key part in helping achieve as an organisation.”

Joe continued: “Our customers have been very positive towards the changes made to the service offered. I believe that they appreciate the wide range of healthier options available throughout the day allowing them to make informed decisions on what they eat and how this affects their health.”

Download this issue in PDF format
Food Service Sector
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Customers
Do you sometimes want to eat healthily when eating out? Click here
issue 29:
Spring 2014
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NHS Health Scotland - Scotland's health improvement agency