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Welsh catering businesses given the healthy option

21st April 2008, 11:47am

Restaurants and catering businesses in Wales which offer their customers healthy options and lighter bites will be eligible for a new Healthy Options award.

After a successful piloting scheme in Caerphilly, the award will be rolled out gradually this month to the country's 22,000 catering establishments.

Food businesses will be awarded a Healthy Options award if they have a Welsh Food Hygiene Award (either gold, silver or bronze) and can demonstrate they allow and offer the following:

Large portions of vegetables

Customers can add their own butter, spread or dressings

Small portions of all adult meals for children

Jacket, boiled or mashed potatoes as an alternative to chips

Thicker wholemeal bread/rolls for sandwiches with low-fat spread or none at all

A small amount of salt and oil used in cooking

Limiting the number of pastry dishes

Julie Barratt, director of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales, which will launch the award this week, said: "With the rising obesity figures in Wales, it is important that those people who make the positive decision to try to make lifestyle changes by making healthy eating choices find it easy to make those choices in their everyday lives.

"This award highlights premises where food is not just produced hygienically but is also made from healthier ingredients and where healthy options are offered alongside the traditional food offer.

"The award requires those participating in it to offer all sorts of choices as alternatives – brown and white bread and rice, whole grain pasta, low-fat options, choices of carbohydrates – and also to use healthier preparation methods, such as grilling not frying, and the incorporation of vegetables into main courses, and so on.

"We are not trying to stop people eating what they want to, the purpose of the award is to help those people trying to eat a healthier diet to do so, by making sure when they eat out they are not booby- trapped by high fat, salt or sugar ingredients in food they buy.

"The award also makes sure that people can make healthy choices, such as to have fresh fruit if they want, rather than a high-fat, high-sugar pudding, low fat spread instead of butter and skimmed or semi-skimmed milk instead of full fat."

Businesses that win the Healthy Options status can use the logo and name on their publicity and promotional material with the hope that it will boost trade.

Recent figures from the Office of National Statistics showed that 96% of people had eaten out at least once in the last year and one in five dine out once a week.

Words Clare Riley 1 comment

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Moira Stalker

23 April 2008 at 3:45pm

Good to see that Wales is following the example set by Scotland who have been running a very successful healthyliving award for caterers for the last two years, which follows on from the Scottish Healthy Choices Award, more information can be found on www.healthylivingaward.co.uk

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