Monash Bulletin - 28 November 2006

Gold Found In Some Unexpected Places

For the first time in its five-year history, major category winners in Monash Council's annual Golden Plate Awards include a hospital and a childcare centre.

The Golden Plate is an annual awards program, which aims to encourage and recognise those food premises that are leading the trend towards better and safer standards of nutrition, hygiene and supportive environments. They also enable consumers a way of choosing establishments that offer healthy food alternatives, with a degree of confidence.

This year is the first time hospital kitchens have been included in the awards, with Southern Health's Monash Medical Centre being the inaugural winner in the substantial sit down meals category.

Monash Council Mayor, Joy Banerji, said it was important to recognise the impact childcare centers could have on the health of children.

"The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity - 20% of children are overweight or obese, an estimated 1.5 million children under 18 in Australia - means healthy eating needs to be instilled in children as early as possible and childcare centers can have an important influence in this regard," she said.

"By offering children the opportunity to select healthy food, child care centres can help create an environment where healthy eating messages are reinforced and carried into their lives outside of the centre."

The winners of the two other award categories are Big Boy's Pizza, Clayton, for takeaway/fast foods and Sodexho at Daimler Chrysler for lunches and light meals.

Cr Banerji said that while some people might question why fast food businesses should be included in the awards, Council believed it was important to encourage and recognise those food premises that were leading the trend towards better and safer standards of nutrition, hygiene and supportive environments in such a popular area of food.

" Fast food and takeaway restaurants are a significant part of our lifestyle and our business community. In the case of this year's winner, the restaurant was among the highest assessed for hygiene (99%) and scored highly in a number of other criteria including use of low fat ingredients, inclusion of fibre in menu items, low sugar drinks, salt only on request, use of biodegradable cleaning products, food kept at safe temperatures, and the use of water and energy saving measures.

" A similar assessment applies to the runner-up in this category. Given their widespread patronage, it is vitally important that fast food outlets are included in the drive to better nutrition, hygiene and environmental elements such as smoke-free, alcohol awareness and sun protection."

Highly commended in each category were the Nola-Dee Child Care Centre, Clayton (school canteens and child care centres), Romancing The Veg, Mount Waverley (substantial sit down meals), Subway Eaton Mall, Oakleigh (takeaway/fast foods), and Garden Centre Café @ Flower Power, Chadstone (lunches and light meals).

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Updated: 27 November 2006

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