Sheffield Hallam University has begun nutritionally analysing the meals served on campus and will be displaying the results so that students and staff are more aware of how balanced their choice of meal is.

 

The university’s catering department will be one of the first in the country to have taken this step, having bolted the nutritional analysis capability onto Saffron, the management information system that is used by the team to improve business control.

 

As well as responding to customer requests for more dietary information, the university is aiming to provide a greater selection of nutritionally balanced dishes that can help improve student performance and wellbeing.

 

All the food served will be analysed through the McCance and Widdowson database of food values stored on Saffron, with choices such as sandwiches labelled with a breakdown of the main nutrients such as calorie, fat and carbohydrate content. Other dishes prepared on-site will have the nutritional breakdown displayed on the counter under the signposting system that denotes a meal’s health rating through the red, amber and green coding.

 

As Richard McGloin, head of trading services explains: “The signposting system will be a visual reminder for customers of what they’re eating. For instance, if they choose a hot dish with a red rating on fat, then they can see how to balance the whole meal by choosing other items that have a lower fat rating.

 

“The move towards nutritional analysis fits in well with the University’s other initiatives to improve student health, such as the Wellness programme, and we’re striving to increase awareness of healthier eating. Students on sports and recreation courses are particularly likely to appreciate having the nutrient content of their food displayed so they can help make choices to improve their performance.”

 

Catering solutions specialist Fretwell-Downing Hospitality (FDH), supplier of the Saffron system, has also seen greater interest within the university sector for the nutritional analysis technology.

 

As Andrew Markwell, FDH’s sales director explains: “Recently, we have been approached by a number of universities that are looking for ways to ensure their meals are more nutritionally balanced and are keen on employing technology that will eradicate much of the effort involved in analysing individual ingredients and bought-in products.”

 

Fretwell-Downing Hospitality will be exhibiting at the TUCO Annual Conference in July.