There has been a change of heart in Dublin Bus as it picked up a Healthy Eating in the Workplace award, writes Fiona Tyrrell
A CHIP-FREE day and a baked rather than fried Irish breakfast are some of the healthy eating strategies introduced at the staff canteen in Dublin Bus to help improve the lifestyles of the city's bus drivers.
Bus drivers are not known for their healthy lifestyles, but now, thanks to the healthy eating initiatives adopted in Dublin Bus's two canteens, the capital's bus drivers are making healthier eating choices.
Of the 1,800 bus drivers who eat in the canteens on a daily basis, 70 per cent opt for oven-baked rather than fried sausages in the morning and the daily consumption of chips has been cut by a third - down from 120 kilos to about 80 kilos a day, explains Cathal McNally from Corporate Catering which runs the canteens for Dublin Bus at Harristown bus depot and Dublin bus building at Earl Place.
In recognition of this achievement, Dublin Bus was one of 57 organisations to pick up awards last week at the Irish Heart Foundation's (IHF) Healthy Eating in the Workplace awards.
This is the first time that Dublin Bus's canteens have received the award and last week's ceremony was the culmination of a couple of years of hard work.
Dublin's bus drivers, it seems, were pretty set in their eating habits and previous attempts for a dramatic overhaul of the menu were resisted.
Chips in particular have been the big stumbling block for the Dublin Bus's canteens, explains Janice Morrissey, dietitian with IHF. The foundation insists that a canteen has one chip-free day a week to qualify for an award.
However, after a series of health promotion programmes run last year including the Gut-Buster Challenge, drivers were more open to a new healthier menu, she says.
Des Boylan, who drives a bus on the 13/13A bus route, says the stereotype of the big bellied bus driver is on the way out.
"There are still a few large belies out there but in general the attitude of bus drivers towards food and nutrition has definitely changed."
Many drivers will have mixed fruit and grain bread instead of the traditional Irish breakfast and white bread, and the majority will choose vegetables over chips, he says.
The IHF's programme, which has been running for 16 years, encourages Irish workplace restaurants and canteens to adopt healthier cooking practices and offer healthy eating choices.
"Given that people spend so much time in the workplace it is a key setting to target people with a healthy eating message, says the IHF's Morrissey.
There is a perception that once food is mass produced, it cannot be healthy, but that is not the case, she says.
Staff canteens undergo a rigorous audit to attain the IHF Happy Heart Eating award. The IHF looks at the use of butter, full-fat milk, cream, salt and oil in food preparation as well as how food is cooked.
As part of a menu review, catering managers should minimise the use of butter and cream and use low-fat milk instead of full-fat milk, she says.
Fibre should be introduced to the menu with the use of wholemeal flour in baking and oats in crumbles. Salt can be reduced with the use of different herbs and spices to season food.
A big offender in staff canteens is the level of fat, according to Morrissey. Catering staff are encouraged to use lean cuts of meat, drain fat away from meat and line service trays with paper to soak up excess fat.
Then of course there are chips - the staple food of most canteens and top of the blacklist for the IHF.
"An average serving of chips represents 500 calories compared to the 180 calories in a serving of two boiled potatoes," says Morrissey.
Cooking oil in deep-fat fryers should be changed after 10 uses, according to Morrissey, to minimise the chances of vegetable oil converting into a trans-fat, which raises bad cholesterol and reduces good cholesterol.
One of the shining lights at the yearly award ceremony is The Midland Regional Hospital at Portlaoise, which has been involved in the programme since 1996 and has introduced a raft of healthy eating strategies.
Fruit plates rather than biscuit plates are offered to staff during meetings and chips are never included in the menu, explains Margaret Dunne, catering manager at the hospital.
The biggest challenge to catering staff is to continually provide choice and alternatives to what is essentially a "repeat audience".
Ten tips for healthy catering
1. Always offer a boiled or baked potato alternative to chips.
2. Provide a good quality and varied salad bar every day. Offer some salads with dressings available separately (not on the salad).
3. Have a good quality fresh vegetable choice available daily.
4. Every day provide at least one dish that is grilled, baked and roasted and well drained.
5. Meat should be lean and well trimmed.
6. Chicken or fish should be available most days as an alternative to meat.
7. Sauces and cream (preferably low fat) should always be offered on the side or on request.
8. All milk-based sauces should be made with low-fat milk and cheese sauces made with low-fat cheddar cheese.
9. Offer a good variety of quality fruit.
10. Use a range of flavourings including fresh herbs, spices and black pepper to season food instead of salt.
From the Irish Heart Foundation