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New catering guidance just published by Public Health England offers practical advice on how to make catering affordable, healthier and more sustainable.

It includes information and tips designed to help those within large organisations to buy, cook and serve healthier, more sustainable food.

It has been designed to help organisations meet government buying standards for food and catering services and support healthier living as a result.

Dr Louis Levy, nutrition advice team manager at Public Health England, said: “The guidance is supported by a ‘Nutrition Checker Tool’ which will allow you to check your food purchases and service against the nutrition criteria in the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.

“This tool provides feedback to help you become more compliant with these standards and therefore provide a healthier food service.”

“There are significant health and environmental benefits derived from implementing the guidance.

“Not only will the guidance help organisations, such as local authorities, the NHS and others with catering provision but it will also promote healthy eating to support a healthier local population.”

The guidance comes in two documents: ‘Healthier and More Sustainable Catering, a toolkit for serving food to adults’ and ‘Healthier and More Sustainable Catering: Nutrition principles’ – both of which can be downloaded from the PHE website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthier-and-more-sustainable-catering-a-toolkit-for-serving-food-to-adults).

He said organisations serving or selling foods to adults could make positive changes to the diet of the nation by reducing foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar and increasing provision of higher fibre foods, fruit, vegetables and oily fish.

“The guidance uses the eatwell plate; a pictorial representation of the types and proportions of food that should be eaten to make a well-balanced, healthy diet.”