At a recent roundtable hosted by Unilever Food Solutions at Perth College, an eminent team of Scottish stakeholders (detailed at foot) met to discuss the nation’s health and how chefs can play a part in improving Scotland’s diet.
Educating chefs
With the imminent introduction of the Supporting Healthy Choices Framework, which sets out voluntary actions for both caterers and food retailers, the roundtable agreed that educating chefs was key to helping the population make healthier choices when eating out.
Promoting Scottish food
While Scotland has one of the highest obesity levels in the world, it also has some of the finest food in the world too, and the roundtable agreed that more should be done to promote this and encourage other businesses to follow the lead.
The Scottish Healthy Living Award has already been issued to 1,900 catering businesses and the Scottish Government is encouraging all catering outlets to achieve The Healthy Living Plus Award by the end of 2014.
Launch of Unilever Food Solutions Health and Nutrition training programme
The roundtable coincided with the Scottish launch of the Unilever Food Solutions Health and Nutrition training programme. The programme has been developed with the People 1st Training Company which is part of the UK national sector skills council for hospitality.
The one-day certificated training programme is designed for students studying catering and hospitality and chefs already working in the industry. Students can achieve a Level 5 (SCQF) or Level 2 (QCF).
Giving chefs the knowledge and tools
In a recent survey, 95% of catering college lecturers said they thought chefs had a role to play in improving the nation’s health, with 93% agreeing that there will be more emphasis on health and nutrition when eating out in the coming years. UFS research into why consumers didn’t pick the healthier option on the menu highlighted the top three reasons as, that they thought it was going to be a lot more expensive, that it wasn’t going to taste as good, and that it wouldn’t be as filling.
The UFS health and nutrition training programme gives chefs the knowledge and tools so they deliver healthy and nutritious meals at the right price point, without affecting the taste.
To find out more about the Unilever Food Solutions Health & Nutrition Training programme call Jacqui or Fiona on 020 8256 1360, email Jacqui@williammurray.co.uk or visit http://www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.uk
Attendees at the roundtable event
Anne Lee, Healthy Living Award Project Manager, NHS Scotland
Heather Peace, Senior Dietary Advisor, Nutrition Science and Policy Branch, Food Standards Agency
Dr Colette Backwell, Director, Scottish Food & Drink Federation
Jackie McCabe, The Royal Environmental Health Institute, Scotland
Neil Thompson, Chief Executive, Federation of Chefs Scotland
Ray Lorimer, Chief Executive, Institute of Hospitality (Scotland)
Denise Connolly, Resource Efficient Scotland
Calum Ross, Chief Executive, BHA (Scotland)
Christine Keenan, Scottish Qualifications Association
Kirsty McCleod, HIT Scotland
Nicky Martin, Head of Nutrition UK & Ireland, Compass-Group
Peter Dahl, Channel Director, Unilever Food Solutions UK & Ireland
Wendy Duncan, R&D Deploy/Technical Manager, Unilever Food Solutions UK & Ireland
Kirsty Pavey, Nutritionist, Unilever Food Solutions UK & Ireland