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Hospital cafeterias to limit junk food and promote healthy food in proposed policy

Harriet Alexander
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Hospital kiosks and cafeterias would have to slash their junk food offerings under a confidential proposal that would force medical institutions to practise what they preach on nutrition.

The NSW government's proposed food and drink standard for NSW health facilities would replace the current traffic light food classification system with two categories - everyday and occasional - with strict limits on the portion sizes and overall proportion of food deemed to fall into the less healthy category.

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Everyday foods are described as those that appear in the five food groups - including grains, vegetables and legumes, fruit, dairy and lean meat - while occasional foods are those that are high in kilojoules, saturated fat, sugar or salt and have little nutritional value.

A draft standard obtained by Fairfax Media recommends banning from health facilities all everyday food with a health star rating of less than 3.5 stars and limiting occasional food to 25 per cent of the menu, as part of an overhaul of the nutritional policies in hospitals and schools.

The standard, which would apply to any situation where food and drinks were offered - including coffee carts, vending machines, florists, newsagents and function catering - would also require everyday foods to be displayed more prominently, priced favourably and promoted through advertisements.

The proposal is already facing opposition from the dairy industry, which is concerned that certain yoghurts and cheeses will be taken off the menu, while products such as soft drinks will continue to be available.

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This is because dairy products are classified as everyday foods and therefore have to meet the 3.5-star threshold, while sugary drinks are classified as occasional food that do not require a minimum star rating if there are no healthier alternatives.

The health star rating system is based on an algorithm that evaluates the nutritional content of food compared with other food within the same category.

A memo from Dairy Australia to the NSW government said the policy for hospitals should be the same as the one that was proposed for school canteens, whereby all everyday food was available and only discretionary food with a health star rating greater than 3.5 stars.

"Under the current proposal, a 500ml diet soft drink (a nutrient poor beverage) could be purchased, or a hash brown/chips can be purchased, however all core dairy foods <3.5 stars (nutrient rich foods), such as reduced fat vanilla yoghurt would be completely banned from sale," the memo said.

Dairy Connect chief executive Shaughn Morgan said the industry had only been informed about the proposal a week before Christmas and had been expected to respond by mid-January.

"If they're allowing school canteens to provide these products to children, surely they should allow the same products to be sold to adults who can make their own decisions about what to purchase - it's very, very strange," Mr Morgan said.

Opposition health spokesman Walt Secord said the government should engage in further consultation with the industries and more than 200 hospital cafeterias.

"These food standards are incredibly important because they set a standard on what is acceptable," Mr Secord said.

"However, the new rules have been rushed and there are some apparent inconsistencies or anomalies.

"No one sincerely believes that a deep-fried hash brown or a serve of deep-fried french fries are healthier than yoghurt."

The NSW government advised industry on January 31 that all feedback had been taken into consideration and it was not accepting further submissions.

But a NSW government spokeswoman said consultation was ongoing and a new framework was expected in coming months. The policy was part of the government's commitment to tackling obesity, she said.

An evaluation of products sold in school canteens and hospitals last year found there was a mismatch between what was allowed to be sold in those institutions with the recommendations of the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the health star rating system.

Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Michael Moore said it was appropriate for dairy products that did not meet a minimum health standard not to be sold in hospitals.

"You only have to look at sugary yoghurt, flavoured milk and very salty cheese to see that some of these [products] are less healthy than others," Mr Moore said.

"Generally the Public Health Association thinks that the proposal from NSW Health is very good. They've taken a very sensible step in ensuring the health facilities are providing as healthy as possible food without taking away choice and that has to be extremely positive."

Everyday food

  • muesli with no added sugar
  • canned or fresh fruit
  • plain yoghurt
  • grilled chicken sandwich
  • sushi
  • salad
  • thin-crust pizza with everyday toppings
  • toasted sandwiches with reduced fat cheese

Occasional food

  • bacon
  • hash brown
  • chicken schnitzel sandwich
  • ham toastie
  • fish fingers
  • pies and sausage rolls
  • instant noodles
  • chocolate bar