Trade News
Hospital chips in good health
According to the Queen’s Medical Centre, part of the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, McCain Signatures is the perfect solution for hospital caterers who want to serve hot and crispy chips.
Meal times are particularly important in hospitals as they are a critical part of the recovery process and can be the high or low point of the day for many patients. An appetising diet, including carbohydrates such as potatoes, which provide high levels of energy, is vital to recovery. If patients do not find the food appetising they often eat less and recovery times can then increase.
Mike Driver, Head of Marketing for McCain, explains how McCain can help: “By working closely with customers in the healthcare sector we know how important carbohydrates are to patient recovery. However, while potato is a particularly popular carbohydrate, in the past many caterers have been restricted to serving mash or boiled due to the re-gen process. The introduction of McCain Signatures Traditional Chips means caterers are now able to serve hot, crispy chips from re-gen trolleys.”
McCain Signatures Traditional Chips are the perfect chip solution for hospital caterers as they have a light and crispy coating that produces an appetising chip that retains its heat. Simple re-gen cooking guidelines also mean end-product consistency can be easily delivered by a mixed skills workforce, which cuts down on cost and waste.
In addition, McCain Signatures Traditional Chips are made from fully traceable, specially selected, British potatoes which provide longer chips to fill the plate more effectively. This means more portions per bag which reduces cost per portion.
Case study: Queen’s Medical Centre
Background:
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which the Queens Medical Centre is part of, is one of the largest hospitals in the UK and one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe and, alongside a busy accident and emergency unit, provides acute services including neonatal, burns and plastic surgery. Re-gen is used for catering and nutrition plays a huge role in patient recovery across all treatment areas.
The issue:
The catering team want to serve chips but re-gen cooking has always delivered soggy and unappetising results.
The McCain solution:
McCain suggested the hospital trial McCain’s Signatures Traditional Chips in re-gen ovens. The chips were extensively tested and were found to perform far better than any products that were previously trialled.
The result:
Hilary Adair, Assistant Food Service Manager, said: “McCain Signatures re-gen brilliantly, taste great, and were instantly recognisable alongside other products on the market.
“They’re a good size so they fill the plate well, plus they look great. There’s no comparison with the product we used previously.
“They’re the best re-gen chip and, due to popular demand, we now serve chips three times a week, pre-McCain that would have been unthinkable.”
McCain products support hospital caterers’ food safety procedures and are Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certified, British Retail Consortium (BRC) accredited and have achieved AIB Gold Standard status, which means that the products meet certified food quality and safety standards.
