Sodexo wins gold for healthy menus at Shrewsbury Hospital

Presented to Sodexo by the NHS, the award was a joint venture between Shropshire council and the NHS. They were rewarded for complying with standards set to help encourage all eating establishments in the county to promote healthy eating. The three standards included complying with food hygiene legislation, providing healthy options on the menu with lower fat, sugar and salt content, and ensuring that the premises has a relevant Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system in place. Sodexo and Nuffield Health's collaborative approach included staff training on health and safety and infection control, maintenance of the kitchen and regular checks to ensure all standards were being met. It was up to catering manager, James Vincent and his team to look at the existing fat, sugar and salt levels in the dishes provided on site and find ways of decreasing them, examples included poached chicken with fondant potatoes, leeks and peppers and a spinach and mascapone pancetta dish. Nuffield Health hospital manager, Mike Haffenden, said: "I would like to congratulate James Vincent and his Sodexo team on the achievement of the Gold Healthy Eating award for healthy patient food menus. "The award recognises the joint effort between Nuffield Health and Sodexo to ensure that patients are well cared for. This also supplements the team's Sliver Health Eating award for staff food which was awarded earlier in the year." Mandy Leaf, Sodexo regional manager, added: "I am very proud of the the Sodexo team on their achievement. We could not have done it without the support and partnership with the Nuffield Health team at Shrewsbury."