Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that (a) hospitals offer (i) gluten and (i) dairy free food that is not high in added sugars and (b) people with restricted diets have access to (A) healthy and (B) fresh food when in hospital.

NHS England has published their Food and Drink Standards, which set out the expectations for National Health Service trusts regarding the food they provide to patients and staff. Emphasis is placed on providing healthy, nutritious food options. The standards include requirements that hospital food has:

• healthy, balanced meal options, providing animal and plant-based protein, starchy carbohydrates, fat, fibre, and micronutrients, including iron and calcium, and both milk and non-milk products;
• adequate and varied provision;
• culturally appropriate options, taking account of local needs; and
• provision for a range of dietary requirements, for instance vegetarian and vegan, and allergies, for instance gluten and nut-free options.