HOSPITAL and institutional food generally has a bad name, but the catering team at St Camillus Hospital has proven just how far that can be from the truth.
The hospital staff are celebrating after their commitment to creating healthy menus for staff and visitors won top honours at a national ceremony.
In total, 21 healthcare facilities across Ireland, providing healthier meals for almost 18,000 health service employees, were honoured this year at the Happy Heart Healthy Eating Awards for their commitment to healthy food choices.
15 units across the country, including the Limerick city facility, achieved gold awards for creating a healthier food environment.
The Happy Heart Healthy Eating Awards have been running for over 25 years, and are a joint initiative of the Irish Heart Foundation and the HSE.
At the awards ceremony, which took place on November 28 at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin, Irish Heart Foundation CEO Emma Balmaine congratulated the winners.
“The Happy Heart Healthy Eating Award programme has been the flagship of our health promotion initiatives for several decades now, which we have been able to develop with support from the HSE,” she said.
“It provides a comprehensive range of individual and environmental approaches to promote healthier choices and behaviours.
“Healthcare workplaces are ideal settings to promote healthy eating because many people eat one, if not two, meals per day at work.
With the number of people eating outside of the home on the rise, healthcare sites in Limerick which prepare hot food for staff and visitors are encouraged to get involved in the awards programme and increase the healthy offerings on their menus.
The criteria for the awards include limiting the availability of foods and drinks high in saturated fat, salt, and sugar, monitoring portion sizes, and promoting the availability of high-fibre foods, healthier counter display, and vending machine contents.
