Healthy Choice - Brighton and Hove, UK

Certification and marketing scheme
Recognising food businesses that serve healthier options
Advice on healthy menus, ingredients and cooking

The takeaway and restaurant scene in Brighton and Hove is dominated by fast food, making it hard for residents to find healthy meal options outside the home. In 2008 the city introduced the Healthy Choice certification and marketing scheme, with the aim of increasing visibility of healthy options. Food businesses that sign the Healthy Choice Commitment benefit from advice on healthier options for their menus. A decade later, more than 200 restaurants, takeaways, pubs, canteens, nurseries and school breakfast clubs have met the criteria to earn the Healthy Choice Award.

Citation

This case study version is from the Menu of Actions (2019). Suggested citation: Halliday, J., Platenkamp, L., Nicolarea, Y. (2019) A menu of actions to shape urban food systems for improved nutrition, GAIN, MUFPP and RUAF.

Buying fruit and vegetables in Brighton and Hove (United Kingdom), Shutterstock/Michaelasbest

The action and its aims

Healthy Choice is a certification and marketing scheme to recognise food businesses that serve up healthier options. It is open to all food businesses with a Food Hygiene Rating of 3 or above, including cafes, restaurants, takeaways, pubs, canteens, nurseries and school breakfast clubs. Businesses that sign the Healthy Choice Commitment receive a visit from the council’s food safety team, which offers tailored advice on healthier menu options, ingredients and cooking methods. Those that meet the criteria earn the Healthy Choice Award, allowing them to use the logo in promotional materials. The scheme aims to increase availability and visibility of healthier food options within the city.

When it was introduced

The award was introduced in 2008.

Why it was needed

One in six meals in Brighton and Hove is eaten outside the home but unhealthy options, such as burgers, fried chicken and chips, dominate the menus of takeaways and restaurants.

Who initiated it, who is involved

The scheme was launched as a partnership between Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) and Brighton & Hove Food Partnership. As of 2019, however, BHCC is responsible for it.