Healthy foods get green light at hospital cafeteria
West Gippsland Hospital’s food and drinks offerings at its cafeteria has been recognised for prioritising healthy food and drink choices.
A “traffic light” system guides staff, patients and visitors to the cafeteria to the healthiest choices available in the “grab and go” refrigerators.
Its implementation last September has led to the West Gippsland Healthcare Group being one of four cafeterias from almost 500 in the state’s public health system to receive a Victorian government award for excellence for the Healthy Choices initiative.
The award recognises the collaboration in the project between the hospital’s clinical and non-clinical departments through a working group made up of the health promotion, food services and dietetics teams.
WGHG’s food services co-ordinator David O’Neill said the “traffic light system” was used to meet Health Department mandated preferences for healthy food in cafeterias with stickers on refrigerator shelves indicating whether the food on them gets a green, amber or red light.
The “green light” is for the healthiest food and must comprise at least 50 per cent of what is on offer.
“Red” is for the least healthy choice and can make up no more than 20 per cent of the food while “amber” is for those foods somewhere in between.
Ordering, preparing and serving food is a never ending job for the healthcare group that supplies hospital inpatients, the cafeteria and two nursing homes - the hospital patients alone requiring some 600 meals each day that take into account varying individual needs including catering for their treatments, physical capabilities and allergies.
The food services area employs 70 of the group’s 1500 staff.