Hospitals to overhaul food
BARWON Health is reviewing its food and drink options to ensure they meet new government guidelines.
The state government will introduce new standards for health services, aiming to give Victorian public hospital patients access to higher quality, more culturally diverse and locally sourced food.
The new nutrition and quality food standards will be finalised and put in place by the end of the year. Victorian health services will also be required to meet healthy food and drink guidelines for their vending machine and in-house managed cafes, however commercial and retail food outlets located inside our hospitals will not be included.
Barwon Health Healthy Communities manager Mairead O’Sullivan said the health service had already met many of the new guidelines, due to recent menu changes and its campaign to phase out sugarcarbonated drinks from cafeterias and vending machines in 2017.
“Barwon Health understands that good nutrition is vital for health and wellbeing, ” Ms O’Sullivan said.
“As a large organisation that can have a big impact on the health of our community, we are committed to setting a positive example and creating an environment that encourages staff and visitors to choose nutritious foods and drinks.
“We are constantly working on increasing the availability of healthier food and drinks for purchase.”
The state government had a panel of experts in clinical and food service dietetics, food service management and procurement review the current standards and make recommendations to better serve Victorian patients and residential aged care residents.
The review recommended that any nutrition and quality food standards consider the diverse needs of patients, as well as longer-term aged care residents.
The new food standards will have a particular focus on taste, appearance and variety. They will also ensure health services respect and celebrate different cultures through their meals – such as kosher or halal food.
Nutrition standards will also be developed specifically to meet the special needs of the youngest Victorian patients.
While much of the fresh food purchased through hospitals is already produced in Victoria — often locally for regional health services — the state government will explore ways to support health services to purchase more foods from Victoria.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the government’s plan was to look at what was needed to enable public hospitals and aged care facilities to serve even more local food, supporting Victorian farmers and producers.