Download Plain document

Healthier and more sustainable catering guidance:
specification for menu analysis
1. Scope
To review and re-analyse example menus contained PHE’s catering guidance for
healthier and more sustainable catering to meet certain food and nutrient based
standards and wider, bespoke criteria.
2. Person Specification
A registered dietitian or nutritionist who has access to the appropriate software
required to conduct the work, and experience of developing and analysing menus.
3. Core menus required

3 X 7 day core menus within PHE catering guidance ‘healthier and more
sustainable catering: a toolkit for serving food to adults’. Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthier-and-more-sustainablecatering-a-toolkit-for-serving-food-to-adults
o Men aged 19-74 years
o Women aged 19-74 years
o Mixed adults aged 19-74 years

2 X 7 day core menus within PHE catering guidance ‘healthier and more
sustainable catering: a toolkit for serving food to people in residential care’
Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthier-and-more-sustainablecatering-a-toolkit-for-serving-food-to-adults
o 2 example menus for mixed adults aged 75+ years (example menu 2 and
example menu 3 within the guidance).
4. Menu analysis
All 5 core menus listed above (for food and drinks) need to be revised as
appropriate to:


meet food based standards (ie for fruit and vegetables, fish, and for red and
processed meat)
meet current dietary reference values for all macronutrient and micronutrients,
and meet nutrient based standards (calculated using dietary reference values
and taking into account relevant nutrient excesses/insufficiencies for each
population group as appropriate), as set out in PHE’s catering guidance

o over the average of seven days and for each eating occasion (ie breakfast,
lunch evening meal, and snacks including drinks)
meet the wider requirements of Government Buying Standards for Food and
Catering Services (ie nutrition-related criteria therein), public health responsibility
deal salt targets and front of pack labelling as appropriate (as set out in PHE’s
catering guidance)
Contractors should take note of specific requirements regarding methodology set out
in Annex 1.
5. Supplementary menus
5 core menus to be adjusted to meet the above but with:
 10% of total energy from free sugars (as defined by WHO*) and 30g AOAC per
day
 7% of total energy from free sugars (as defined by WHO*) and 30g AOAC per
day
 5% of total energy from free sugars (as defined by WHO*) and 30g AOAC per
day
*WHO definition of free sugars:
All monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as
sucrose or table sugar) that are added to food by the manufacturer, the cook or the
consumer, as well as sugars that are naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices
and fruit concentrates.
NB: PHE will be able to provide advice with regard to estimation of free sugars and
AOAC fibre should this be necessary.
6. Summary of outputs
Brief project report outlining requirement, methodology and results to include:
 5 Core menus and 15 supplementary menus with foods incorporated to meet the
food based standards highlighted (eg fruit and vegetables, fish etc)
 Tabulated data for each menu to include:
o DRV for all macronutrients and micronutrients as daily average and for
each eating occasion averaged over 7 days
o Nutrient standards for macronutrient and micronutrients, where
appropriate, as daily averages and for each eating occasion averaged
over 7 days
o Results of each menu analysis meeting the above criteria
 Sample table templates are provided in annex 2
7. Timescale
Project report to be submitted by 31 December 2014.
8. Cost
We anticipate that this work would attract a maximum daily rate of £600.
Nutrition Advice Team
Diet and Obesity
28 August 2014
Annex 1: Analysis Methodology
Key points:
1. Suitable software, which incorporates data from McCance & Widdowson’s
Composition of Foods, most up-to-date Summary Edition, and other robust data
sources must be used. Where data in McCance & Widdowson’s Composition of
Foods may be out of date other up to date data sources should be used and
referenced.
2. PHE will provide the successful contractor with reports relating to the original
menu analysis to include portion sizes/data sources. Beyond this, standard
portion sizes can be taken from published typical portion size data for adults
http://www.foodbase.org.uk/results.php?f_report_id=82 and the publication Food
Portion Sizes (MAFF).
3. PHE’s standard conditions for nutrient analysis (including recipes) are provided
below for reference purposes and should be adhered to, where appropriate.
PHE standard conditions for recipe development and/or analysis methodology
4. Using suitable software, which incorporates most recently published data from
McCance & Widdowson’s Composition of Foods series, the Contractor will
analyse recipes and provide a summary report of each, outlining macronutrient
content and sodium/salt content, and other micronutrients as requested as well
as a list of ingredients and quantities analysed and full details of any assumptions
(inc weight losses). Data in McCance & Widdowson’s Composition of Foods
series may be out of date so where relevant use other data sources for up to date
info and reference this source.
5. The summary report will give nutrient content both ‘per 100g’ and ‘per serving’.
Where a recipe does not specify a serving size, the Contractor will estimate the
serving size by, for example, using the publication Food Portion Sizes (MAFF), or
by using Food Standards Agency published data on typical portion sizes for
adults and children. Where the Contractor has made an estimation of the serving
size, a note should be placed on the recipe summary report to advise how the
estimation was derived.
6. Similarly, where the weight of an individual ingredient is not specified, the
Contractor will estimate it. Where a weight of an ingredient has been estimated,
the weight should be listed as part of the summary report and a note added
where appropriate on how the estimation was derived.
7. For each cooked recipe the Contractor will take into consideration weight losses
as a result of cooking, as outlined below in points 15 to 18.
8. The Contractor will pay attention to cooking methods for each recipe and
consider whether it is appropriate to analyse the recipe as a whole, or to separate
out components (for example, for some pasta dishes the pasta might be cooked
as an integral part of the main dish, eg pasta bake, whilst for others, the pasta
might be cooked separately, eg spaghetti bolognese).
9. Any accompaniments included in the recipe, such as potatoes and vegetables
should be included in the analysis of the recipe.
10. Brands can be used in analysis / development but should be anonymised in the
descriptions.
11. For each recipe the list of ingredients should be in the same order as used in the
method.
12. Each recipe should include the number of servings the meal provides.
13. Each recipe should include cooking and preparation times.
14. The Contractor should be specific with quantities, eg ‘400g tin of tomatoes’ rather
than ‘tin of tomatoes’.
Calculating weight losses of cooked dishes
15. To calculate weight loss for each recipe, the Contractor will estimate the weight
loss of the recipe as a whole, rather than the weight loss of individual ingredients
within it by applying the percentage weight loss values given for standard recipes
in Appendix 4.4 of McCance and Widdowson’s ‘The Composition of Foods’ (6th
summary edition), or in the associated RSC/MAFF supplements.
16. Ingredients will be assigned either raw or cooked in the recipe, to allow direct
comparison to a similar standard recipe for estimation of weight loss.
17. Where a specific standard recipe is not available the Contractor will estimate the
weight loss of the dish using a recipe the Contractor considers to be similar.
18. Where no standard recipe is available that is considered to be similar enough to
the recipe being analysed, the Contractor should contact PHE for advice.
PHE Standard Conditions for Food Diary Development and/or Analysis
Methodology
19. The Contractor will analyse food diaries as supplied. These are likely to be real
food diaries with only basic information, for example generic foods rather than
branded, with or without weighed data. Where possible, PHE will give guidance
to participants prior to completion of food diaries, for example, suggesting detail
on general household portion sizes to allow for a more accurate dietary intake
analysis.
20. Using suitable software (to be agreed prior to a Contract being awarded) the
Contractor will analyse food diaries provided with a summary report. The
summary report will preferably be in Excel format, which outlines overall
macronutrient and sodium/salt intake per day, or other micronutrients as
requested as well as details of any assumptions made, for example on portion
size (point 23). Additional reports might be requested for individual pieces of
work, for example, a comparison of each day’s intake against dietary reference
values for various nutrients. Need to include other data (referencing the source)
where McCance & Widdowson’s Composition of Foods data is outdated.
21. Contractors shall consider how best to interpret data where lack of detail is
available, and follow the methodology as outlined in points 24 to 27.
22. Brand names can be used in analysis / development but should be anonymised
in the description.
Calculating portion sizes:
23. Where the weight of a food or meal is not given, the Contractor will estimate the
weight by, for example, using standard portion sizes from typical portion size data
for adults and children published by the Food Standards Agency, and the
publication Food Portion Sizes (MAFF). Where the Contractor has made an
estimation, a note should be placed on the relevant summary report to advise
how the estimation was derived.
Where descriptions are lacking:
24. Where a food or drink description could be interpreted in more than one way, for
example “milk” could be skimmed, 1% fat milk, semi-skimmed or full-fat, an
average option, in this instance semi-skimmed milk, should be selected if, with a
note of this made in the summary report.
25. Where a food or dish is not available within the Contractor’s software, a ‘best
match’ should be used where available, with a note of this made in the summary
report.
26. Where the Contractor is unclear which option to analyse, or where a similar food
or recipe is not available within the Contractor’s database, the Contractor should
consult PHE for guidance and agreement.
27. The Contractor should be aware for both analysis and/or development of food
diaries and of recipes that data is sometimes incomplete in McCance and
Widdowson (M&W) food composition tables. For example, if using the M&W
supplement ‘Cereals & Cereal Products’ data is not included for saturated fat.
This will likely be reflected in analysis software and may result in underestimation
of nutrients. The Contractor should, where possible, alert PHE to any likely gaps
for a given piece of work, especially where comparison of data against healthy
eating recommendations for fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt might be affected.
Data in McCance may also be out of date so where relevant use other data
sources for up to date info and reference this source
Annex 2: Sample Table Templates
Table 1: DRVs and nutrient based standards (calculated using dietary
reference values and taking into account relevant nutrient
excesses/insufficiencies for each population group as appropriate)
Nutrient
DRV
Derived
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snacks
daily
target
target
target
target
nutrient
values
using
nutrientbased
standards
Table 2: Nutrient analysis of menu X
Nutrient
DRV
Derived daily
nutrient
values using
nutrientbased
standards
Nutrient
provision from
menu (daily
average over
seven days)