University outlets achieve Bronze Food for Life standard

Holland Hall, Birks Grange, Exeter Halls and La Touche Café have been awarded Bronze standard, which assures customers that food served is sustainable, freshly prepared and free from additives including MSG, tartrazine and aspartame. The award also requires all eggs to be from cage-free hens promoting higher animal welfare, which compliments the University gaining a Good Egg Award last year.

Rob Sexton, Chief Executive of Soil Association Certification, said: "The Bronze Catering Mark is an excellent achievement which recognises the vital role that fresh, seasonal meals play in healthy, planet-friendly menus, especially for large-scale catering. It reassures customers that their meals are free from GM ingredients, trans-fats and prepared from scratch”.

The Catering Mark is open to all food providers and the Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers recognise organisations who serve locally produced, healthy and organic food. The above University outlets serve over 720,000 Food for Life meals a year, and the award certifies the food served meets high standards of traceability, freshness and provenance.

Julie Tong, Functions Manager, said: “We’re delighted to receive The Food for Life Bronze Catering Mark which recognises our commitment to serving freshly prepared, seasonal and sustainable meals, and further supports and highlights the excellent progress we are making with our Sustainable Food Policy”.

This award supports the University’s Sustainable Food Policy, which pledged to achieve the Bronze Food for Life catering mark when released earlier this year. As part of the Policy, the University also is aiming to increase the range of food offered from sustainable resources, promote an ethos of buying local, provide more vegetarian, seasonal dishes and ensure that sustainability criteria is included in supplier specifications and contract awards.

To find out more about the University’s Bronze Catering Mark or the wider Sustainable Food Policy please contact Julie Tong.