Back in October 2015, NHS England launched the CQUIN (Clinical QUality and Transformational INdicators) scheme which set a series of targets to reduce the volumes of high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) items on offer in healthcare environments by April 2019. With the final deadline now upon us, we take a look at what the scheme is all about and what food and drink providers can still do to help meet the targets.  

What is CQUIN?

CQUIN is part of a wider-reaching £5 million project called the Five Year Forward View which was first launched in October 2015 by NHS England. The scheme outlines 13 ‘indicators’ of improvement which focus on a wide range of NHS activities, it is the indicator ‘improving staff health and wellbeing’ that directly applies to food and drink providers. 

How this affects food and drink providers working in a healthcare-based environment

NHS England is seeking to provide healthier food and drink choices for both its workforce and the public at large. Sugar especially has been identified as a major cause of ill health and back in 2015, the NHS recognised a need for it to lead change by setting a series of targets to slowly lower the number of HFSS items on offer over the following four years.

So what happens this April?

• 80% of total stocked drinks lines must be sugar free*
• 80% of confectionery and sweets must be 250 kcal or under
• At least 70% of pre-packed sandwiches and other savoury pre-packed meals** must contain 400kcal - or less - per serving and cannot exceed 5g of saturated fat per 100g

How to build a CQUIN compliant offering

If your offering still has some way to go with regards to meeting the latest targets, fear not: we're here to help.

• Get Fresh: making sandwiches and other snacks wherever you are able, will allow you to control the levels of sugar, salt and fat being introduced.
• Promote the Good Stuff: develop promotions to encourage sales of non HFSS products.

Our cloud based label printing software - LabelLogic Live - also offers many benefits to food and drink providers working towards CQUIN:

• Enables you to create compliant nutri labelling in minutes, including Reference Intakes and QUIDS.
• Incorporates a full nutritional recipe builder which does all the complicated calculations for you.
• Uses the most current version of McCance and Widdowsons database (nearly 3,000 common foods).
• Tailor any stock label by adding logos, messaging and more with easy to use design tools.
• Multi-site hospital? You can create, control and roll out product data, ensuring consistency and compliance across all units.

Visit LabelLogicLive.com or contact us for further information. You can also peruse some of our most popular hospital catering products here. 

*Sugar Free = less than 5g of sugar per 100ml. In addition to standard sugar sweetened beverages (SSB), this also includes energy drinks, fruit juices (with added content of over 5g) and milk based drinks (with sugar content of over 10g per 100ml)

**Wraps, salads, pasta salads