Nutrition

Bidfood is committed to supporting customers through the nutrition and allergen landscape by providing guidance on key issues, helping customers to make informed choices and striving to improve product ranges through pledges such as sugar and salt reduction. Some of our work has included:

 

Calorie labelling in the out of home sector

We have a range of resources including a guide and podcast to help customers navigate the mandatory calorie labelling legislation that was implemented in 2022.

Find out more here.

 

Sugar reduction

We’ve previously worked closely with Public Health England (PHE) on their sugar reduction programme, by developing a strategy to lower the quantity of sugar that is consumed from our products and working towards PHE’s sugar reduction targets.

We have reduced the sugar in a number of our own brand products, without using sweeteners or compromising quality or taste. You can see some of our successes here.

For new product development, we use our nutritional screening tool to assess levels of key nutrients, ensuring that health and nutrition is considered for new and updated ranges.

We also help customers make informed choices through tools such as our traffic light report, available through the advice centre. This report nutritionally profiles all our own brand and branded products against certain standards, such as PHE’s sugar reduction targets, the sugar tax (for soft drinks), or front of pack traffic light labelling. Available from our Advice Centre at advice_centre@bidfood.co.uk or on 0370 3663 000.

 

Salt reduction

At Bidfood, we recognise that achieving the public health goal of consuming no more than 6g of salt per person per day will necessitate further action across the whole industry, government, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and individuals.

As a result, Bidfood will strive to achieve the 2024 salt reduction targets across our own brand portfolio. All new products introduced into own brand are expected to meet, or fall below, the 2024 maximum targets for the relevant category, or below the average, where a maximum is not set. As of June 2023, 39% of own brand products met the average salt targets and 67% were below the maximum.

Read our full salt reduction policy here.

 

Allergens

It is estimated that 2.6 million people are living with food hypersensitivities (food allergies, food intolerances and coeliac disease) in the UK1.

At Bidfood, we take the management of allergens very seriously and work hard to support customers through developments in legislation, such as Natasha’s Law.

To find out more about what Bidfood have been doing on allergens and how we are supporting in this area, visit our Allergens page here.

 

Meat free products

We recognise the growing trend towards plant based diets, with more people now choosing a flexitarian, vegetarian or vegan diet.

Eating proportionally more plant-based food can help to reduce the carbon footprint of a diet, plus getting more of your 5 a day (fruits, vegetables, beans, pulses etc.) can help provide us with the range of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need.

Bidfood offers over 3,000 vegan suitable products, from nutritious vegetables to plant based burgers, and we provide a range of creative menu ideas throughout our blogs which show ways to create tasty and interesting dishes for all to enjoy.

 

Bidfood’s own brand vegan products meet the following criteria:

  • Own brand vegan products are not made from, or with, non-vegan ingredients from end to end supply chain
  • ‘May contains’ for animal derived ingredients (milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, molluscs) are permitted, however, every effort should be taken to minimise cross contamination with animal derived allergens
  • Vegan products are intended for vegan consumers and those looking to reduce their meat and animal derivative consumption. They are not created for consumers with food allergies and should not be seen as allergen-free

 

To inspire you with a range of exciting vegetarian, vegan and plant-based food products, drinks and recipes, as well as lots of useful information about vegan diets, look no further than The Meat Free Space.

We also provide our customers with reports of products that are suitable for vegans and vegetarians through our Advice Centre at advice_centre@bidfood.co.uk or on 0370 3663 000.

Find out more on The Meat Free Space page: Welcome to The Meat Free Space – Bidfood

 

 

1 Food.gov; 2023

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