The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the first stages of activity to give people across the UK improved access to healthier meals while they are at work.

As part of the Department of Health’s Obesity Strategy, the FSA has issued a set of voluntary commitments for catering companies participating in the activity.

Over the past year, the FSA has been working in partnership with major caterers ARAMARK, BaxterStorey, Compass Group, Elior and Sodexho, along with the two biggest food product suppliers to the catering sector 3663 and Brakes, to help them develop individual packages of commitments to provide healthier food for their customers at work.

About three million meals are eaten at work every day, two million of which are prepared by contract caterers. The five catering companies involved serve 1.5m meals a day in the workplace and account for about 85 per cent of the market.

The commitments will ensure that workers have the opportunity to choose food that is lower in salt, fat - especially saturated fat - and sugar, enabling them to take control of what they eat and take positive steps towards a healthier and balanced diet. The commitments include developing databases of healthier recipes to help chefs plan menus, removing salt cellars from tables, offering smaller portion sizes for overly indulgent foods and providing more training on healthy cooking techniques for chefs and managers.

“Meals consumed at work are often subsidised, they can account for at least one main meal per day - sometimes more - and in some cases employees are a captive audience with limited options,” said Rosemary Hignett, head of nutrition at the FSA. “We know the catering sector is a key area and this is an important step in the right direction. We strongly welcome the commitments these businesses have made, which will enable people to make sensible choices about their diet, no matter where they eat. We’d like to see more businesses do the same and intend to develop this work further.”

The FSA intends to work with the full range of catering businesses to contribute to this work, in a way that fits the style of their business and meets the needs of customers. The FSA will monitor the progress of this work and further details of this activity will be published throughout 2008.