Healthy Options Award
Staffordshire Healthy Options Award is
launched
Would you like to have
the choice to eat healthier food when you go out? Have you ever
wondered just how healthy the food is at your favourite restaurant?
We will be giving you the opportunity to find out in 2010. The
first businesses will get the Staffordshire Healthy Options Award
this spring, giving you the opportunity to make more informed
choices about where and what you eat.
Businesses will be scored
on how healthy their cooking methods and menus are.
Areas that will be looked
at include:
How many portions of fruit and vegetables are provided
Use of healthier oils and fats,
Use of alternatives to salt and sugar,
Availability of free tap water,
Promotion of healthier alternatives,
Healthier meals for children.
The Award is not just
about eating healthier foods. It is about providing healthier
alternatives to traditional dishes and using healthier cooking
methods. All types of restaurant and take-away will be able to gain
an award, including those typically seen as only selling fattier
foods such as fish and chip shops.
In order to qualify for
an award a business must have at least 3 stars in the food safety
scheme, Rate My Place, http://www.ratemyplace.org.uk/.
Successful businesses will be given a gold, silver or bronze
certificate to display and their Award will be displayed on the
business’ page on the Rate My Place website.
If you run a food
business, in order to achieve a gold award in the Staffordshire
Healthy Options Award Scheme, it is essential to have completed
training in Healthier Food & Special Diets. For further
information about training on the Healthier Food & Special
Diets course run by South Staffordshire Council, please click
here.
The award is available
for most catering premises which serve food including restaurants,
cafes, hotels, workplace and hospital restaurants, pubs and
takeaways. It does not include places which cater for specialist
diets such as care homes, nurseries and schools which have their
own standards for providing healthy food.
Eating out has never been
so popular or so easy and accessible. Research shows that just
under a third of all money spent on food and drink in the UK was on
that eaten outside the home. More than 1 in 5 of us eat out at a
restaurant, fast food outlet or takeaway once a week or more.
However, foods eaten
outside the home can make a big contribution to intakes of fat,
sugar, salt and calories. Diets high in saturated fats have been
associated with a number of health problems, including obesity and
coronary heart disease. Therefore, this award will help to
encourage food businesses to promote healthy choices. This will
help you be able to make better choices of what you eat when you go
out.
So keep your eye out for
the first businesses to achieve awards on Rate My Place and in the
local news and the South Staffordshire Review. And why not treat
yourself to a visit to one of them, so that you can enjoy eating
out in the knowledge that they are committed to offering healthier
options.
More information can be
obtained by contacting the Food Team on 01902 696221 or
env.commercial@sstaffs.gov.uk.
Healthy
Options Award Assessment Form
Staffordshire
Healthy Options Policy Document
Chinese Restaurants Fact
Sheet
Indian Restaurants Fact
Sheet
Italian / Pizza Restaurants Fact
Sheet
Mexican Restaurants Fact
Sheet
Main Contact
Alison Long
Administrative Supervisor
Telephone: (01902) 696221