Sodexo's defence business wins Public Sector Award for healthy eating initiatives

Sodexo, a leading provider of on-site service solutions, has won the Public Sector category in the inaugural Health & Vitality Honours.

Sodexo Defence was singled out for the award as a result of the work it carries out in supporting healthy eating in the British Armed Forces, ensuring all military personnel receive nutritionallybalanced and innovative meals. Sodexo's winning approach focuses on understanding eating trends across all of its contracts and understanding the differing needs of individuals at the various sites, whether a military headquarters or a busy training establishment. Sodexo already provides calorie information at 35% of its sites as part of the Food Standards Agency's initiative and is currently undertaking training to roll out calorie labelling across its business, as part of its commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle.

On winning the Honour, Andy Leach, managing director for Sodexo Defence said: “I am delighted that we won the Public Sector category. We take our responsibility to inform our customers about the principles of healthy eating very seriously and use Sodexo's 'Healthwise' initiative to do this. We provide information and advice to help consumers learn about how to achieve a balanced and healthier lifestyle. This supports and is consistent with the client's Healthy Catering Policy and helps deliver healthy eating awareness training; a key element of
this. This award reflects the hard work and dedication our team give to ensuring we provide the
highest service.”

The Honours were held in The Long Room at Lords Cricket Ground and were hosted by nutritionist, writer, journalist, consultant and principle ambassador of the Health & Vitality Honours, Amanda Ursell. Meanwhile, the high profile judging panel for the eight categories was made up of leading industry personalities such as Raymond Blanc OBE, LACA's Anne Bull, Westminster Kingsway's Gary Hunter and health and nutrition expert Dr Susan Jebb.

The Health and Vitality Honours were organised by Foodservice Footprint Magazine and created to establish a platform for foodservice businesses to showcase healthy best practice.