New drive to cut hospital food waste
Hosptial caterers have joined forces with the Government in a new drive to reduce the £18m-worth of food wasted in NHS hospitals each year.
Speaking at the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) conference in Brighton today, undersecretary of state for health Lord Warner urged delegates to do more to tackle food waste, which he said was costing £18m a year, or £55,000 per NHS trust.
He described the quantity of food wasted in one hospital he visited as "astonishing".
A joint NHS and HCA guidance document on the management of food waste will be published this summer.
Warner also urged hospitals to look at food as an alternative to artificial feeding. "There appear to be times when we give patients more expensive alternatives to food," he said. "Artificial feeding should be a last resort."
Warner also said hospital caterers need to do more to develop sustainable food procurement policies. "Contrary to what some think, sustainable food procurement is not about eco-warriors going organic or buying all your carrots from farmer Smith," he said.
"It is about taking a measured and sensible look at what you buy and where you get it from. It doesn't mean every hospital has to change all its processes."
For more from the Hospital Caterers Association conference, see next week's Caterer magazine
