The Food for Life Served Here accreditation from the Soil Association, recognises caterers who are serving meals that go beyond meeting the national guidelines and ensure that healthy, nutritious and ethically-sourced meals are served with a focus on local sourcing of seasonal produce.
Anthony Thackray, regional manager for Sodexo North, said: “Food quality and the sourcing of food is high on everyone’s catering agendas and as managers we face constant questions about where food is sourced and the quality of food produced. The Soil Associations’ Food for Life Served Here Bronze award shows Sodexo’s commitment to quality food not only to assist in patient recovery but for the staff and visitors that use the restaurants. A unique selling point to our clients.”
Hospitals with the accreditation serve a minimum of 75% freshly prepared meals, which are made from ingredients, which are ‘fresh, local and honest.’
Sodexo has said that it ‘stepped up’ to meet the standards, including obtaining new suppliers for a more regional supply chain.
It ‘sources only the finest ingredients’ for its menus, which are freshly prepared on site each day by a team of dedicated chefs.
Sasha Burns, regional transformation lead at Nuffield Health South, said: “At Nuffield Health we have always ben very proud of our reputation for delivering excellent catering services and are pleased to be able to offer our patients, their visitors and our staff great quality, delicious food.
"We truly believe that good food is an essential part of a patient’s recovery process, both physically and mentally, and we’re delighted to have been able to work with Sodexo to achieve this recognition which demonstrates the commitment we all make to providing well sourced, nutritious food.”