NHS tinkers with pasty recipe ‘to save lives’

‘People will probably throw me out of Cornwall but I’m ... using a few alternative things to shortcrust’

CORNISH pasties should be made with filo pastry and not shortcrust in an effort to tackle obesity, health leaders in the county have said.

A row has erupted after the head of facilities at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust revealed she was seeking a method of producing the historic local snack using lighter pastry more closely associated with Middle Eastern cuisine.

Jill Venables said that while filo pastry is still high in fat, it has fewer calories than shortcrust and should be served in local hospitals instead of the local pasty. But local producers have reacted sceptically, criticising the “nannying NHS” and warning that a new name would need to be found for the filo alternative because the Cornish pasty is a protected food.

Ms Venables told the Public Health England conference that some hospital visitors eat three Cornish pasties a day.

While acknowledging there is “nothing evil” about a traditional pasty, which can comprise up to 800 calories, she said she wanted to “save patients’ lives, which is why we are focusing on therapeutic diets”.

“Cornish people will probably throw me out of Cornwall but I’m working on a few recipes, using a few alternative things to shortcrust pastry.”

A spokesman for the Cornish Pasty Association, which represents producers, said: “We believe the Cornish pasty recipe has stood the test of time and will continue to do so.

“We see no reason why Cornish pasties can’t still be enjoyed by anyone as part of a healthy balanced diet.”