Food & beverage guidelines for hospitals issued

The Ministry of Public Health yesterday issued guidelines for food and beverages sold at all healthcare facilities in the country, at their cafeterias, restaurants and vending machines.
‘Food and Beverage Guidelines for Healthcare Facilities’ recommend healthcare facilities avoid selling food and beverages with high calories such as chips, chocolates and soft drinks in vending machines and limit their sale at cafeterias to 20 percent.
It also encourages healthcare facilities to include 50 percent healthy food and drinks among the items sold at cafeterias and display them prominently.  The guidelines have classified food and drink into three categories according to nutritional value. And it requires cafeterias and vending machines at healthcare facilities to label food and beverages in green, yellow and red labels.
The traffic signal like tri-colour labels will help people easily identify the most healthy, moderate and unhealthy items.
The guidelines are based on the ‘Qatar Dietary Guidelines’ and were developed by the Ministry in collaboration with the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Aspetar hospital, and Sidra Medical and Research Center.
The guidelines will be introduced at cafeterias, restaurants and vending machines of private and public healthcare facilities in the country by end of this year, said Sheikha Dr Al Anoud bint Mohammed Al Thani, Director of Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry.
 

Healthcare facilities to include food & beverage guidelines

“All healthcare facilities will include the food and beverage guidelines in the terms and conditions while calling tenders for cafeterias for 2017. Some healthcare facilities have already taken steps in implementing the guidelines. We expect all public and private hospitals, health centres and clinics to implement the guidelines by the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2018,” Sheikha Al Anoud said addressing a press conference at the ministry.
“The guidelines aim at creating awareness and promoting healthy eating habits among the public. We will have teams monitoring implementation of guidelines at healthcare facilities. If the guidelines are not followed we will educate them on importance of it,” she added.
Representatives from HMC, Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), Ministry of Interior-Armed Forces, Aspetar Hospital, Sidra Medical and research Center, Qatar Petroleum, as well as private hospitals were also present at the event.
According to the guidelines, food and drinks with good source of nutrition are classified as ‘Sell most - Green category.’ Such food items are required to be displayed at prominent places, at eye level on shelves, and make the items available at all time at cafeterias. The vending machines are also required to have 50 percent healthy food and drinks.
The ‘Sell sometimes- Yellow category’ includes processed food that have some sugar, salt and fat added. Such items should be sold in smaller quantities compared to the Sell most - Green category,’ and should not be promoted. They might have some nutritional value but large portions can be harmful. Vending machines can have 50 percent ‘Sell sometimes- Yellow category’ items.
Soft drinks, snacks like crisps with high level of sodium and fats and chocolates are categorised as ‘Sell in limited amounts- Red category.’ Such items should not be displayed in big quantities or near cash counters, reception, waiting areas and at exit or entrance of the cafeteria.
However, tri- colour may not apply to all foods and beverages such as prepackaged 100 percent fresh fruit juice that maybe labeled as Red due to its high fruit sugar content. It is a nutrient-rich beverage that should fall within Yellow category.  Similarly diet sodas would fall within the Yellow category because it is calorie- free, but contains non-nutritive sweeteners and is considered a non-nutritious beverage and should fall within the Red category.