A public health nutrition project was undertaken in Somerset in
2009-2010 with the aim of improving the nutritional quality of
children's menus when eating out. The project was funded by the Food Standards
Agency and NHS Somerset to further their strategic goals
of reducing child obesity and other diet-related health problems in
the population.
Environmental Health Officers from all five local councils in
Somerset (Mendip District Council, Sedgemoor District Council, South Somerset District Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, and West Somerset Council ) worked together
to engage small independent catering businesses, primarily in the
leisure and tourism sectors, in training on nutrition and healthier
catering. The aim of the training was to improve proprietors'
understanding of the business benefits of healthier catering and
the effect of diet on health, as well as to offer practical
suggestions on simple changes that can be made to catering
practices to reduce saturated fat, salt and sugar in the food
provided, whilst maintaining or improving financial margins.
Training was delivered by Dr Jane Philpott, Nutrition Consultant of Inspiring
Nutrition. and involved a combination of educational
seminars and one-to-one advisory visits to premises. Fifty caterers
from 39 diverse businesses across Somerset participated in the
training, including children's nurseries, cafés, pubs and
restaurants. Visits were made to 22 of these businesses and four of
them also received detailed nutritional analysis of their menus.
Feedback on the training was 94 per cent positive. Some businesses
responded by changing their entire menus; some removed their
special children's menus - chicken nuggets and chips, sausage and
chips, pizza and chips - and instead offered smaller portions of
the healthier adult menu items; and others made simple adjustments
to recipes across the whole menu to reduce saturated fat, salt and
sugar, and increase content of vegetables, fruit and whole grains.
Evidence suggests that approximately 80 per cent of the businesses
made beneficial changes to their menus, whilst 20 per cent made no
changes at all.
The work in children's nurseries was particularly encouraging
because, in some cases, substantial changes to menus were made
almost overnight, such as switching from white to whole grain
varieties of bread, rice and pasta, increasing the use of plant
source proteins and oily fish, and replacing sugary desserts with
fruit-based dishes, without affecting demand and even increasing
take-up of meals. Barriers to change include limited nutritional
knowledge and practical skills of caterers in healthier catering;
projection of caterers' own beliefs and attitudes about food onto
children - 'because I do not like it, they will not like it',
'children will only eat junk food' - which is often unsupported by
evidence; uncertain customer demand on a day-to-day basis, leading
to a reliance on frozen foods to reduce wastage; logistical
challenges, such as large numbers of customers appearing at once
after shows at tourist attractions, which increases reliance on
foods which hold well and are easy to serve; kitchen staff with
limited cookery skills, leading to dependence on ready-to-use
sauces and heat-and-serve meals, which are often higher in salt and
saturated fat than home-made dishes; sometimes limited availability
of lower salt and saturated fat containing products from catering
wholesalers; and a perception that value for money equates to
larger portion sizes, rather than thinking about offering smaller
portions and reducing the price.
Thanks goes to the Food Standards Agency and NHS
Somerset for funding and to those businesses and local
authorities who participated and supported this project.
Full copy of final report (copyright held by
Inspiring Nutrition).