Councils

What could Eat Out Eat Well achieve for your authority?

The Department of Health White Paper ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People‘ proposed that public health improvement should be driven locally by councils including involvement of the private sector. Many local authorities are already taking this approach and the Eat Out Eat Well scheme for caterers is having a positive impact on local communities.

The Eat Out Eat Well assessment includes questions which reward:

The promotion of healthier options on displays, over less healthy options
The availability of breakfast cereals lower in sugar and higher in fibre
Using pricing policies or promotions to encourage customers to have vegetables, salads, fruit or additional starchy foods such as bread
The availability of low sugar/artificially sweetened drinks
The availability and promotion of free tap water
When healthier alternatives to confectionary, savoury snacks, biscuits and cakes are available
Where drinks with added sugars are only available in servings of 330ml or less
When confectionery and packaged sweets/cakes and chocolates are only available in the smallest size on the market*
When crisps and savoury snacks are only available in packets of less than 35g**
Where sandwiches are available with salad as part of the filling (automatically or upon request)
When the price of fruit portions are cheaper than confectionery items/dessert

From April 2013 there were major changes to the public health system in England. Local authorities took the lead for improving health and coordinating local efforts to protect the public’s health and wellbeing through schemes such as Eat Out Eat Well.

Work has been undertaken with Public Health England to refresh the assessment form and bring the scheme closer in line with Government Buying Standards (GBSF). A new Platinum level is being introduced which will allow those caterers who can meet and evidence their adherence to GBSF and salt responsibility targets to achieve a higher award which demonstrates their commitment to healthy eating.

As part of the new Platinum Eat Out Eat Well Level, questions will reward:

Limiting the availability of sugar sweetened drinks to 20% of the drinks available
Where ready meals are used, at least 75% contain less than 6g of saturated fat per portion
Where Responsibility Deal targets for salt exist, they are met for 50% food in all categories specified in the Deal
When confectionery and packaged sweets/cakes and chocolates are only available in the smallest size on the market and not more than 250kcal per serving
When crisps and savoury snacks are only available in packets of less than 30g
When menu cycles have been analysed to meet nutrient based standards to the major subgroup of the catering provision (e.g. children, adults)
Where menus include calorie information

By becoming a member of and following the principles of Eat Out Eat Well this will assist NHS catering outlets meet CQUIN Indicator 1b: Healthy food for NHS staff, visitors and patients.

It should be noted that the Eat Out Eat Well scheme encompasses staff and visitor food, but not patient food.

If your local authority would like to be involved in the Eat Out Eat Well award, contact trading.standards@bucksandsurreytradingstandards.gov.uk