Press Releases

FDH Team up with My School Lunch

6th September 2007

SCHOOL LUNCH WEBSITE ADDS NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS INFORMATION TO MENU

        
 
Click here to go to My School Lunch Website
 
School catering website myschoollunch.co.uk has teamed up with Fretwell-Downing Hospitality (FDH) to display the nutritional analysis of menus of certain local authorities.
 
Myschoollunch.co.uk is a popular resource that twenty five local authorities are using to promote their school meal services, including the display of the weekly menus. Local authorities that are operating FDH’s Saffron Nutrition analysis system now have the option to display the nutritional analysis of the menus on their web pages as an automatic pop up when a cursor is scrolled over a particular dish. 
 
This additional feature, which is being used by authorities such as Southampton and Caerphilly, shows the content of 14 different nutrients, in-line with the Government’s school meal nutrient standards that are due to come into force in September 2008.
 
So far, the nutritional analysis feature is proving to be a useful reference for parents, pupils and teachers alike.  It supports the rest of the information on the website and helps parents and pupils adopt a healthy lifestyle and find out what is happening in the school catering service. 
 
Arnold Fewell, myschoollunch’s creator said, “There has been a great deal happening with the Government’s nutritional standards and parents have requested more information including a nutritional breakdown. 
 
“The link with Saffron on the menu pages of the website is a significant development as there is a downloadable fact sheet about the various nutrients and their importance.  We have already received a lot of positive feedback about this development and I am certain it will help restore parental confidence and support and increase in meal numbers.”
 
More than 60 local authorities now operate Saffron Nutrition nationwide in a bid to be prepared well in advance of the nutrient standards coming into force. 
 
Andrew Markwell, sales director of Fretwell Downing Hospitality said, “It’s great to see initiatives such as myschoollunch.co.uk making use of the nutritional analysis information.  Initiatives like these present a fantastic opportunity, not just to demonstrate to people what’s in their food but to also show them how much has been done to improve the quality of school lunches.”
 

Saffron Nutrition - New Payment Option for Care Homes

10th September 2007

NEW CARE CATERING PURCHASE SCHEME FOR ‘ON LINE DIETICIAN’

 
Catering software provider Fretwell-Downing Hospitality (FDH) is introducing a new purchase scheme for care caterers who are looking for support to ensure they are meeting nutritional guidelines and standards.
 
FDH has introduced a monthly subscription scheme for the use of its web-based version of Saffron Nutrition – the nutritional analysis system that provides a complete breakdown of the nutrient content of menus together with costings to help forward planning. FDH is launching the new scheme at the NACC conference on 13-14th September 2007. 
 
Through the subscription scheme, users will have access to the password-controlled system, which is hosted remotely by FDH, thereby eradicating the need to invest in expensive computer programmes. The monthly fee also includes full technical support from FDH.
 
Saffron Nutrition holds an expansive database that includes 550 ingredients and more than 300 recipes to enable care caterers to run an analysis on their own dishes or check against ready-prepared products.   
 
Up to 60 nutrients, from carbohydrate and protein levels through to vitamins and minerals, can be analysed, and with bar charts and tables, users will be able to see at-a-glance where menu plans will meet or fall short of guidelines such as the Food Standard Agency’s.
 
As well as maintaining a comprehensive record of the nutrient content of manufactured food products, Saffron Nutrition enables individual recipes to be analysed using the industry’s bible, the McCance and Widdowson composition of food database. 
 
Importantly, a detailed costing of menu plans can also be obtained to help keep track of costs, a valuable aid when forward planning.
 
The Saffron Nutrition system has played a pivotal role in providing the analysis of sample care home menus for the Food Standards Agency to assist caterers in menu planning.
 
Andrew Markwell, Fretwell-Downing Hospitality’s sales director comments: “Saffron is already well established within the education sector and we are now being approached by care homes and their caterers who are looking for a solution in the face of more exacting demands on the meals served and the reassurances that clients now require. 
 
“We have introduced the new payment scheme to provide greater flexibility for care caterers who are keen to simplify the whole process of obtaining a detailed breakdown of the nutrient content of meals and interpreting those results.” 

Welsh Assembly Selects Saffron Nutrition

25th September 2007

SCHOOL MEAL PROVIDERS GEAR UP FOR WELSH NUTRIENT STANDARDS

                                     
 
School meal providers across Wales are gearing up to improve the nutritional levels of school meals  by using a state-of-the-art nutritional analysis system.
 
Using grant funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), the umbrella body for the local authorities, has awarded a contract to Fretwell-Downing Hospitality to supply its web-based system, Saffron Nutrition to all meal providers in maintained schools in Wales.
 
With Saffron Nutrition, users which includes 22 local authorities and contract caterers operating in maintained schools in Wales, will each have online access to the system through a password-protected site. They will then be able to input and benchmark their menus against the proposed standards and plan ahead more accurately.
 
Saffron Nutrition’s web service is centrally hosted and managed by Fretwell-Downing Hospitality. This eases the burden on users having to maintain the system themselves.
 
Appetite for Life, recommended the average daily nutrient intake that menus should supply for lunches over a one week period for children in primary and secondary schools.
 
Comment from WGLA ”This is the first time we have used a nutritional analysis service that will enable our providers to make informed decisions about whether menu items are nutritionally balanced and make the necessary ingredient adjustments.
 
Education Minister Jane Hutt said: “Many local authorities and schools in Wales are already offering healthier school food and adopting effective approaches to encourage pupils to make healthier choices.  We encourage Local Authorities to work in partnership with others to share good practice.  Stakeholder conferences are planned for 22 November and 6 December and the focus will be on sharing experiences to help support schools and caterers in improving the nutritional standards of food and drink provided in schools in Wales. ”
 
Andrew Markwell, sales director for Fretwell-Downing Hospitality commented: “We are delighted to have been awarded this contract, our largest individual contract for Saffron Nutrition. With 80 local authorities across England and Wales now using our ‘virtual dietician’ service, it is proving to be a significant tool in meeting the new, and more stringent, school meal standards.”

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