Nibbles

Food Safety and Nutrition Live

Food Safety and Nutrition Live will take place in Glasgow on Tuesday 20 May 2014.

It promises to be an exciting and stimulating day with a range of speakers covering topics, such as Food Safety – in the news, Food Sustainability and the Commonwealth Games – Glasgow Feeding the Commonwealth. The event has been organised by Media CPD and is supported by REHIS, the FSA and the University of Glasgow.

Anne Lee, Project Manager for the healthyliving award will be participating in a debate entitled: “What can be done to help encourage better, healthier food choices to benefit our nation’s health and wellbeing?”

If you would like to attend, please contact Media CPD on 0141 638 4098.

News bites

Supporting Breastfeeding Mums

Breastfeeding can make a substantial contribution to child health and development.

It offers protection to children from a range of conditions including chest and ear infections, stomach bugs, obesity and diabetes. Mothers who breastfeed also have a lower risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer.

A key benefit of breastfeeding is that it can happen at any time and in any place, but for it to be effective, both mother and child should feel relaxed.
We know, however, that many women decide not to breastfeed or stop after a few days or weeks. The reasons behind this are often complex and multifactorial, but include barriers to breastfeeding in public.

This is despite the fact that a women’s right to breastfeeding in public is protected by the law with the Breastfeeding etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 and more recently the Equality Act (2010).

Scotland has a predominantly bottle feeding culture and there are several Scottish Government policies which support work to increase the uptake and normalisation of breastfeeding.

One of the ways this can be achieved is by making breastfeeding more visible and supported in public venues, particularly those where families socialise and eat together.

The Breastfeeding etc. Scotland Act (2005) states that it is an offence to stop a mother breastfeeding her child anywhere that children are normally allowed, and the Equality Act 2010 (GB) prohibits discrimination against a mother who is breastfeeding.

The law applies to all employers and employees in premises where the public have general access. It is an employer’s responsibility to ensure that all of their staff are fully aware of the terms of the legislation.

Anyone who tries to stop or prevent a person feeding milk to a child under the age of 2 years can be prosecuted.

www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/135079/0033433.pdf

As long as you or any person in your organisation does not prevent or stop a mother feeding milk to a child, then no action will be taken. However, staff should be aware of the legislation, so they can handle any situation which may arise due to the behaviour of other customers.
Some ideas for this could include:

  • Be prepared to offer assistance – Some mothers may want to feed in private, so think about ways in which you could support this. Be prepared to offer a private, comfortable space if requested (not the toilet)
  • Respect their space – Try not to interrupt or disturb unnecessarily
  • Know how to manage a complaint from another customer if it occurs
  • Join or start a local breastfeeding welcome scheme and ensure that this fact is obvious from outside your premises

Local breastfeeding welcome awards, which are mostly facilitated by NHS teams, support businesses to become breastfeeding welcome. The purpose of these awards is to promote an environment where breastfeeding is seen as the normal way to feed infants and young children.

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Food Service Sector
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Customers
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issue 29:
Spring 2014
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NHS Health Scotland - Scotland's health improvement agency