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NHS hospital menus and food choices are showing little progress in offering more sustainable, plant-based menu options, according to a new study by Plant-Based Health Professionals UK (PBHP UK).
The study, published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, analyzed 36 NHS UK hospitals and looked at sustainability plans alongside the menus on offer across the hospitals. Using this analysis, a scoring system was created assess the quantity and availability of plant-based foods versus meat-based meals.
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Isabelle Sadler, lead author of the study, commented: “Despite the NHS’s commitment to becoming a net-zero healthcare service by 2045, our analysis reveals that hospital menus currently show little alignment with sustainable practices. With the NHS serving 140 million patient meals annually, there’s significant untapped potential to reduce environmental impact through menu changes.”
Some of the most significant findings of the study included all of the analyzed hospital menus serving processed meat, despite its group 1 carcinogen status. It found that less than 50 percent of NHS Trusts had any plans to increase plant-based portions in line with sustainability goals, and that meat from particularly damaging ruminant animals – like beef, lamb, and goat – were prominent on menus.
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Falling short on plant-based options
The study found 42 percent of the menus had no fully plant-based main dinner options, while 50 percent offered no lunch options that were fully plant-based. The majority of hospitals were not found to be making any significant efforts to encourage patients and customers to make sustainable food choices. Hospitals outsourcing catering were found to be more climate-friendly than those keeping catering in-house.
A consumer survey conducted in 2024 asked 2,000 people in the UK if they would welcome efforts to add more sustainable vegan options to hospital menus — over a third of the survey participants responded that they would be open to the idea.
PBHP UK is moving forward with the Plants First Healthcare initiative in an effort to help healthcare menus introduce more vegan food options, with the backing of other climate and health organizations.
Plant Based News has contacted the NHS for comment.
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