Food-and-beverage environment and procurement policies for healthier work environments

Abstract

The importance of creating healthier work environments by providing healthy foods and beverages in worksite cafeterias, in on-site vending machines, and at meetings and conferences is drawing increasing attention. Large employers, federal and state governments, and hospital systems are significant purchasers and providers of food and beverages. The American Heart Association, federal government, and other organizations have created procurement standards to guide healthy purchasing by these entities. There is a need to review how procurement standards are currently implemented, to identify important minimum criteria for evaluating health and purchasing outcomes, and to recognize significant barriers and challenges to implementation, along with success stories. The purpose of this policy paper is to describe the role of food-and-beverage environment and procurement policy standards in creating healthier worksite environments; to review recently created national model standards; to identify elements across the standards that are important to consider for incorporation into policies; and to delineate issues to address as standards are implemented across the country.

Nutrition on University Campuses

“… Limit sweet beverage portion size to 20 ounces or less. Consider having even smaller portions, such as 8 ounces or less, available (Gardner et al, 2014).  Consider eliminating all sugar-sweetened beverages.…”

“… Consider eliminating all sugar-sweetened beverages. Eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages is becoming a common practice in the health care setting (Gardner et al, 2014).  Have water available free of charge.…”

Reducing Intake of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Is Vital to Improving Our Nation’s Health

“…These include public education campaigns, restricting access in schools and workplaces, food package labeling, portion size reduction, voluntary industry initiatives, and taxes. Some of the most prominent initiatives are highlighted in the Table. 4, [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] The good news is that intakes of added sugars in the United States have declined, and much of the decline is attributable to a reduction in the consumption of soft drinks. Since the 1990s, sales of full-calorie soda in the United States have dropped by >25%.…”

“…13 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that child care centers not serve sugary drinks. 14 Restrictions in workplaces: Gardner and colleagues 15 reviewed food and beverage procurement policy standards for creating healthier worksite environments and recommended that these policies include the elimination of SSBs.…”

Evidence-Based Policy Making: Assessment of the American Heart Association’s Strategic Policy Portfolio

“…121 More than 100 million Americans eat from food service meals each day in which government guidelines or the AHA's standards may be implemented by large employers, entertainment venues, faithbased organizations, recreational centers, and hospital systems. 121,122 In this emerging policy area, much more research is needed to determine the effectiveness of implementation and the health impact of procurement standards and food service guidelines.…”