In the UK, according to NHS statistics, 26% of adults and 30% of children are classified as obese. This startling statistic is just one in a number of shocking facts released over the past few years and it highlights the problem we face as a society regarding weight management.
It’s no surprise that as concerns rise about obesity, the vending machine industry is adapting and growing to change with this and here at Express Vending we’re completely committed to encouraging healthy and balanced diets when we supply commercial, industrial and business environments with one of our vending machines.
One area of particular interest to the team here at Express Vending is good nutrition within the workplace. A major contributing factor to the rise in obesity is the combination of convenience food coupled with a time-poor society. People are demanding quick food they can grab on-the-go and this often results in the purchase of unhealthy food. However, this can have a detrimental effect on employee health and productivity.
Numerous studies have found that employees who consume a healthy and balanced diet are more likely to maintain good personal health, enjoy better weight management and also directly build productivity. As an employer, this can mean your staff take fewer days off and are also more focused and concentrated whilst at work.
Keeping healthy foods readily accessible to your employees is incredibly important and offering healthier options in vending machines is an ideal, simple way to achieve this. We offer a range of healthy eating vending machines here at Express, including the Easy 6000 and Starfood, and we are also increasingly dedicated to removing trans-fat from the products we offer.
Trans-fat is a by-product of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and is used in processed foods to increase shelf life. However it is also known to increase total and bad cholesterol, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. The Food Standards Agency have highlighted the issues of trans-fats, stating they have “no known nutritional benefits” and that their negative impact on cholesterol “increases the risk of coronary heart disease.” They suggest that “as part of a healthy diet we should try and reduce the amount of foods we eat that contain hydrogenated or saturated fats.”
The team at Express Vending understand the need to reduce this fat type from our diets, which is why we offer a range of products which contain no trans-fats, including Milfresh HVO free whitener and premium granulated skimmed milk. We also supply Freshers Granulated Chocolate and Karimer whitener, both HVO free. All these products help dramatically cut your intake of trans-fat and are a great and simple way for employers to combat the issues of unhealthy habits amongst staff.
The key to lowering obesity is being able to offer healthy alternatives conveniently and, here at Express, we do just that. We make it incredibly simple for employers to offer their teams low-fat and HVO free products and, in doing so, can increase the health and productivity of numerous businesses.
