Officials target workplace vending machines

Types of food sold in vending machines face checks.

Workplace food-vending machines are the next target in the battle against obesity.

Health officials want to restrict their contents, and say they could use health and safety legislation as a way to improve what people eat.

A university nutritionist has welcomed the idea, but says it would be impossible to enforce.

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The 1992 Health and Safety in Employment Act could be applied to staff food supplies, says the Law Society, although making an employer responsible for what employees ate would be difficult.

The Ministry of Health's annual Food and Nutrition Monitoring Report says workplaces are an important setting in improving New Zealanders' eating patterns.

The ministry plans to monitor the workplace "nutrition environment" over the next two years.

It will check the types of food sold in canteens and vending machines.

The report said that under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 employers were responsible for the health and safety of their workers.

This included providing a safe and healthy working environment.

"This could easily be interpreted as covering the food and nutrition environment," wrote report author Maria Turley.

Government agencies would be expected to take a lead by developing guidelines for food in cafeterias and vending machines.

Robert Bree, executive director of the Food Industry Group, which represents the food and advertising industries, said any attempt to use legislation to govern what workers could eat would open up "a huge can of worms".

It was an issue of personal responsibility.

"In the workplace, it's a discussion between the employers and the employees as to what they want to have access to."

Employers had enough responsibility without having to police what employees ate, he said.

Massey University nutritionist Professor John Birkbeck agreed with having controls on the sugar, salt and fat-laden items sold in vending machines.

"There's nothing wrong with the Government putting some pressure on employers to raise the issue with their staff, and to see if they can encourage them to let them change what's in the machine. Trying to enforce it I think might be difficult."

Nutrition education was also needed, he said.

"There's no point having a machine that produces healthy filled rolls if all the workers want are cream buns."

The convener of the Law Society's employment law committee, Kathryn Beck, said the report's interpretation of the workplace health and safety act was not inaccurate.

But she questioned whether it would be possible to hold an employer liable for an employee's obesity.

The Occupational Safety and Health service had placed greater emphasis on health beyond purely safety issues, said Ms Beck.

"That focus has come primarily in the area of stress management and occupational disease, but they are looking at health in the workplace in a broader aspect now, too."

Vending machine snacks and drinks company Provendor supported the ministry move.

Spokeswoman Stephanie Horrocks said the company had a healthy foods range, which did not affect its other offerings, which included biscuits and chips.

"I think there'll always be a place for what I refer to as treats.

"If you take the treat choice away, customers will just go down the road. Instead of taking the choice away, you're better to use a medium like ours as an opportunity to educate."


What the workers think

* Jennifer Cockburn
25, insurance broker, Glendowie
"We don't have any vending machines - we were just moaning about it; there should be one. We just went out to get our supply of snacks. We know it's bad for us, but we don't care."

* Waiana Burrow
20, insurance broker, North Shore
"I reckon it's the choice of the company and the employee whether they want to have a vending machine. The ministry can inform people it's bad, but it's up to the people. Sometimes it's nice to have a sugar rush in the afternoon."

* Leigh Wallace
24, broker account manager, Hillsborough
"It should be up to the individual - the Government already tells us enough things we have to do. We have fruit available for free, but we don't have vending machines. I'd like one with Coke and stuff."

* Zen Ginnen
25, event manager,Mt Albert
"I don't think it's a good idea to ban them. It should be a choice - if people want junk food let them have it, if they want fruit let them have it. Obesity is not the vending machine's fault, it's part of what happens in families when people are growing up."