Healthy catering

chef slicing

The food we eat outside the home makes up an increasingly important part of our diet. The average person eats one in every six meals out of home and if we add in snacks and 'grab and go' food, men consume about a quarter of their calories when eating out, and women around a fifth. So, the choices we make when eating out can go a long way to help us to maintain a balanced diet.

For this reason, the Agency is working in a number of areas to help consumers make healthier choices when they eat out – whether this is in restaurants, pubs, cafés, takeaways or workplaces, or in residential settings such as care homes.

This section contains information on the Agency's work with high street restaurant, pub, coffee and sandwich chains, major workplace caterers and catering suppliers to encourage healthier eating commitments. There is also information about our work with businesses and caterers to develop a voluntary calorie labelling scheme.

You will also find guidance on healthier catering, and practical tips for any caterer wanting to offer their customers healthier choices.

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  • Guidance for caterers

    Tuesday 22 April 2008

    The Agency has produced practical guidance, including weekly example menus, to help caterers across the UK provide food that meets the nutritional needs of adults (for example in, workplace canteens, hospitals, prisons, local and central Government) and older people in residential care homes.

  • Practical tips for caterers

    Thursday 29 September 2005

    If you want practical advice about how to give your customers the choice to eat more healthily, or to help your staff or students learn about healthy catering, check out the information in this section.

  • Working with catering businesses for healthier choices

    Thursday 20 November 2008

    We are working with catering and restaurant businesses to help consumers make healthier choices when eating out. We are encouraging companies to reduce the amount of salt and saturated fat in their dishes to help consumers maintain energy balance (not consuming more calories than needed) and to make nutritional information more accessible available.