Hospitals in England cutting back on sugary drink/snack sales

More than half of NHS trusts have taken action to curb sales of sugary drinks and snacks on their premises in the fight against obesity, figures from NHS England reveal.

NHS chief Simon Stevens ordered hospitals and suppliers to dramatically cut the sale of sugar-filled fizzy drinks or face an outright ban later this year.

So far 152 out of 232 trusts have pledged to reduce sales of sugar sweetened beverages, while preliminary figures indicate that staff, patients and their friends and family have had access to 632 million fewer calories over the past year as a result of restrictions on the availability of certain calorie laden foods.

Last year NHS England ordered hospitals to take super-size chocolate bars and ‘grab bags’ of sugary snacks off the shelves.

The data are not yet complete, but some of the headline results from several of the suppliers involved so far include:

- A large hospital retailer removed advertising and promotions on NHS estates and has sold over 1.1 million fewer single chocolate bars in the past year, and removed 275,000 (23%) large bars of chocolate.
- The removal of 1.1 million single chocolate bars equates to 264 million fewer calories, while the reduction in the number of large chocolate bars is equal to 161 million fewer calories, adding up to almost 425 million calories.
- An additional 175,000 pieces of fruit have been sold in hospital stores.
- The Royal Voluntary Service has worked with suppliers to make healthier sandwiches that now account for more than half of the total sales.
- Compass Group has revealed a further 132 million calories have been removed from the top five sandwich products sold in hospitals.
- The Royal Voluntary Service has changed their range of sandwiches to reduce calorie intake by over 75 million calories a year.
- Several retailers are running a healthy meal deal exclusively in hospitals, with no sandwiches over 400 calories and no unhealthy snacks.
- Costa has removed its large size from their seasonal and more indulgent drinks in hospital stores, and a cream topping now comes as an optional extra rather than as standard.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England commented: “We now know that obesity causes 13 different types of cancer as well as heart attacks and strokes, so the NHS has needed to get its own house in order on the epidemic of flab. Once the Easter eggs are gone, the NHS will be getting on with ensuring our hospitals and their retailers are offering healthier food and drinks for patients, relatives and staff.”

Professor Jonathan Valabhji, national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, at NHS England said: “We have been clear that the growing obesity crisis sweeping the country is a public health crisis and the evidence backs it up. Obesity is associated with heart attacks, cancer, type 2 diabetes and a number of other illnesses – causing personal suffering and costing the health service and in turn the taxpayer, billions every year. And for all of those conditions, wherever possible, prevention is preferable to cure.”

Professor John Wass of the Obesity Alliance described the progress as ‘impressive’, and said that it was good to see NHS England leading the fight against obesity.

“It’s good to see NHS England leading by example when it comes to tackling obesity. Obesity is not only costing people in health terms, but treating the effects of obesity is costing the NHS billions of pounds a year. Alongside the impending Soft Drinks Industry Levy, and the ongoing sugar reformulation programme, the reduction in sales of unhealthy food and drink in hospitals is an important step in the battle against obesity,” he said.

“It also sends a strong message that the NHS is serious about cutting the amount of sugar in the nation’s diet.”