Sugar banned from hospital vending machines

29 June, 2010

Sugar has been banned from coffee and tea vending machines in hospitals across Wales as they pose a “risk to health”, according to NHS chiefs.

The Welsh Assembly Government has also ordered that cheddar cheese sandwiches are banned as they contain too much fat. Dried fruit, juice, seeds and water have been recommended as health alternatives for vending machines.

Automatic Vending Association Co-opted Board member Gillian White said it had proposed a compromise of using “Half Spoon” sugar to Health Minister Edwina Hart.

But a spokesperson for the Assembly Government said that hospitals should reflect the importance of healthy living and try to set an example for any visitors.

They added: “We are working to create an environment where it is easier for people to make healthy choices, particularly in our hospitals. We have issued nutritional guidance to the NHS in Wales for vending machines. This guidance is monitored and reviewed as necessary.”

The Department of Health said it was not planning to follow the Welsh example.

Readers' comments (28)

simon williams | 29-Jun-2010 12:21 pm
for goodness sake. what a load of rubbish. if a relative needs sugar in their tea if they have been through trauma etc, then ill be there with a spoon of sugar for them.
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tich x | 29-Jun-2010 3:02 pm
sometimes i wonder how they come up with such decisions. why not give patients the chance to make that choice? i forgot nurses too because we use such services. simon you have used the word rubbish so i will say gabbage. this is why in my trust despite so many underweight patients its a fuss to even get hold of a pint full fat milk. why do i have to phone the kitchen for milk for the patient yet they provide semi-skimmed. if iam working and miss a hot meal i want to eat whatever sandwich i want. patients still smoke in hospital yards yet we are concerned about sugar. i bet a frail, unwell patient will down 1500ml of water easily!

it seems to be the much younger patients who are overweight, & eat lots of sweets & fizzy drinks when hospitalized, and i doubt this will have any sort of impact on them.
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Richard Purcell | 29-Jun-2010 4:36 pm
This is another example of health prevention by committee.

Who had this particularly inept brainwave and decided that they were going to save lives by removing the only thing that made vending machine drinks vaguely palatable?

Did anyone think that it might be nice to be allowed the choice, seeing as we are fully functional adults? Clearly not...

I personally would be more concerned with the nature of the food being served to the sick whilst they are in-patients. I would wager that a spot audit on any given day in any given health facility would show up some glaring inadequacies in relation to nutrition, palatability, choice....you name it. I daresay it would be there.

But enough of this. I am off for some cheese on toast and a cuppa with two sugars. Why? Because I choose to, of course.....

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Anonymous | 29-Jun-2010 6:27 pm
I wonder what services are put on in the welsh assembly for those making these decisions I bet they don't have what there canteen or vending machines supply. I thought that under human rights etc we should be allowed to make our own choices, if I choose to have an unhealthy snack that's my decision. I don't want NICE or the welsh assembly government dictating to me what is good or bad for me or what I should or shouldn't eat I want to make that decision for myself after all I am an adult.
I agree with the other comments what a load of rubbish.
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Anonymous | 30-Jun-2010 5:25 am
Buahahahaha! What if someone has a drop in blood sugar and needs something sweet to drink? Don't you think it is far more risky?
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Janet Jackson | 30-Jun-2010 8:11 am
Absolutely ridiculous, how offensive for the public and staff to assume they cannot make the choice in which to have or to have not, have they taken away the vending machines that sell chocolates which are high in saturated fats? They are a far greater risk to cardiovascular health
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simon williams | 30-Jun-2010 9:57 am
the sooner the welsh assembly is abolished the better.
NANNY STATE
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grace mary jalandoni | 30-Jun-2010 1:06 pm
This is nonsense,people should have a choice,and having vending machine with sugar and sugar free as well,although i love the idea of having healthy choice.
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Anonymous | 30-Jun-2010 6:17 pm
so.... how about the potential risk to one's health when a person uses the vending machine burns themselves from the hot tea or coffee they have purchased?

perhaps they could look into a disclaimer?!?!?

you then look at nhs treatment for the cost of a burn... perhaps we should stop serving tea and coffee according to wales nhs?
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vanessa Holleley-Wood | 1-Jul-2010 2:16 pm
Were the public consulted? ..............just aware of the PPI agenda here....and that is here to stay and more!!!
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Anonymous | 2-Jul-2010 7:40 am
This is such a stupid idea. I agree with healthy choice but that is the operative word... choice! A spoonful or two of sugar is not the end of the world - I am all for the half spoon stuff! Go for it. Why not go for the cutting down on chocolate and crisps. There are lots of lower fat alternatives. Why not clearly display the fat and calorie content of products on the vending machines.There are lots of lower fat cheeses too. Public involvement and choice are meant to be the watchwords of the NHS. Of course, we should set an example but come on, be realistic. Frankly, I would be worried about the levels of aspartame consumed in this country - synthetic and nasty. At least sugar is natural! As an addendum to the nurse who has to request full fat milk we can't get skimmed milk! I use skimmed milk at home so would want it in hospital too. Our patients have to go to the hospital M&S to buy their own!!! This sugar thing is very silly! There are much more important things to be worrying about to do with health... SMOKING and ALCOHOL are two!
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Anonymous | 2-Jul-2010 9:42 am
It'll be interesting to see if the revenue from the machine drops or goes elsewhere.
I'm not sure excluding something then constitutes a choice if that thing is no longer available by which the choice is defined.
Having said that I'm passionate about healthy nutrition but I wonder how palatable machine contents will be.
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Anonymous | 2-Jul-2010 9:50 am
Why not go the whole hog and simply remove the vending machine plus its revenue? I question the Trust leaving its 'moral duty' of providing the paying public with 'healthy choices' when the have removed the choice. Put your convictions of true abstinence and provide a water fountain and fruit vending machine, it did the Victorian former occupants of the workhouses no harm and ensure no sugar reaches the boardrooms!
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Anonymous | 2-Jul-2010 10:01 am
how ridiculous! i pray for the future of the country! surely a spoonful of sugar is better than a spoonful of artificial chemicals anyway. if patients and their families were satisfied with hospital food then they would not bring in fast food to the wards - hasn't that got a bigger impact on their health????? who are these numpties at the top?
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John RNA AFEN DipHE BA(hons) | 2-Jul-2010 10:21 am
When I was a student working alongside a health visitor, she commented that she suggests that children don't have drinks marked as sugar free because the effects of sugar are well known, whereas the effects of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are not. Therefore it is better to go with the known than the unknown.

Banning Cheddar cheese because it is too fatty is similarly ridiculous, by that score all hard cheese, including Caerphilly, should be banned. According to Wikipedia Cheddar has a fat content, by weight of 33%, as does Red Leicester, whereas Caerphilly has a fat content of 48%.

Yet they promote dried fruit (high in sugar), nuts (high in fat, coconut being high in saturated fat) and seeds (high in fat).
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Anonymous | 2-Jul-2010 12:00 pm
Will the hospital shop stop selling sweets, fizzy drinks and that much needed bar of chocolate when shift your has been too busy . Oh dear what is the matter with people , they clearly have too much time on their hands.
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Anonymous | 2-Jul-2010 11:46 pm
I think first on my list would be banning MacDonalds and the like. Criminal.
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lisa lloyd | 3-Jul-2010 0:29 am
Would it not be more beneficial for these beurocrats to be looking more closely at "food labelling" thereby giving the general public an "informed" choice in what the consumer is eating. While they are at it they should be tackling the rubbish that is put into everyday foods sold to the public like saturated fats, and salt. These would have much more impact on the health of the nation.
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Anonymous | 3-Jul-2010 0:32 am
Would it not be more beneficial for these beurocrats to be looking more closely at "food labelling" thereby giving the general public an "informed" choice in what the consumer is eating. While they are at it they should be tackling the rubbish that is put into everyday foods sold to the public like saturated fats, and salt. These would have much more impact on the health of the nation.
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Helen Blackburn | 3-Jul-2010 9:55 am
People only take sugar in tea or coffee because they've been conditioned into doing so. I realised that coffee is actually a wonderful drink when I finally had a cup with no milk or sugar in it. If children are given tea and coffee without sugar they will get used to it. I think it's a good idea and I wish we could get rid of sugar in the vending machine where I work. I regularly watch people putting 3 & 4 teaspoonfuls of sugar into hot drinks, whereas it is possible to wean yourself off sugar.
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