Food 'poor' in hospital canteens

Which? found most hospitals broke guidelines

Many hospital canteens offer food laden with salt and fat, according to a leading consumer organisation.

Which? sent dieticians into 21 major hospitals across the UK, and found that most of the main meals served broke national guidelines.

Only four hospitals of the 21 had a "healthy option" on their menus.

Dieticians said the NHS should be setting a good example, but caterers said the study was based on a limited analysis of menus.

Although we did find some examples of good practice, most hospitals we visited really need to raise their game Nikki Ratcliff Which?

The NHS is the largest employer in the UK, with approximately 1.5 million staff, and serves approximately 300 million meals per year to staff, visitors and outpatients in hospital canteens and restaurants.

The research found all the hospitals served vegetarian options, but these tended to be "cheese-based" with high levels with fat.

In all, 67% of the dishes sampled had too much saturated fat, according to Food Standards Agency guidelines, and 86% had too much salt.

Which? also surveyed 1,500 of its members who had eaten in a hospital canteen in the previous year.

While almost half said the food was "excellent" or "good", one in five were unhappy with the options available.

Private profit

Nikki Ratcliff from Which? said: "The situation at the moment is farcical. Although we did find some examples of good practice, most hospitals we visited really need to raise their game."

A spokesman for the British Dietetic Association agreed that improvements were necessary, but said that as many hospitals used private catering contracts for their patient meals and canteens, it might be difficult to impose NHS standards directly on them.

She said: "The NHS does have to try to set a good example when it comes to healthy eating, and as most patients who use hospital canteens could probably lose a pound or two, then it makes sense to offer healthy options on the menu."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb added: "The NHS should be at the forefront of efforts to reduce obesity, but instead they appear to be feeding the problem. "If schools can improve the meals they serve then so can hospitals."

Neil Watson-Jones, chairman of the Hospital Caterers' Association, said he was concerned that the survey seemed to be based on a "limited analysis" of the full range of dishes available at the hospitals in question.

He said hospitals were continuing to improve menus with extra healthier options.

"It's important to recognise that hospital catering outlets are required to be proactive in delivering income to support budgets and therefore have to respond to consumer demand and cater for customer choice."