If you’re not, madam, then you have no shame…
Further to our article on PV yesterday, which was written in response to a survey commissioned by the World Cancer Research Fund that declared ‘English hospitals fall behind rest of Britain in providing healthy vending machine snacks’, the AVA (as well as Planet Vending) has been inundated with angry responses that question the balance of the report.
The NHS Snack Bag consisted almost entirely of items the Amanda McLean has branded as being inappropriate for sale in hospital vending machines.
It’s hardly surprising. Amanda McLean, The General Manager of WCRF is quoted as saying that we should ‘put an end to vending machines that sell only high calorie food and drink.’ She added: ‘Because there is strong evidence that these foods cause obesity – a risk factor in diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease – they are partly to blame for many people ending up in hospital in the first place.’
We’ve printed selected comments below, that were made via Planet Vending’s affiliations on LinkedIn, but one in particular will make you laugh out loud and – if there’s any justice in the world – make Ms McLean flush with embarrassment and take a long, hard look at her PR strategy.
Here we go: we won’t name him here without his permission but the following came from a resident of the north west of England. Our contributor recently had a spell as a hospital patient and, aware as he was of the furore surrounding vending in hospitals, he was amazed to be presented, (by a very nice lady from the WRVS), with a free-of-charge NHS branded Snack Bag.
Even more amazing were the contents of said NHS Snack Bag, as they consisted almost entirely of items the WCRF has branded as being inappropriate for sale in hospital vending machines. The picture below beggars belief. It’s like an NHS branded, Do It Yourself Obesity Kit.
Whilst that’s going on, how can Amanda McLean even point the finger at vending? At least we’re not giving it away!
Talk about cant and hypocrisy?
Ms McLean clearly isn’t aware of what’s going on in hospitals – not that lack of knowledge will prevent her from airing her opinion, evidently…
She should be ashamed of herself and she should get her ducks in a row before she fires her scatter gun in our direction. We’re likely to fire back. How much does she care about the vending industry? Even less than she knows about it, we reckon.
Moving right along… Here are a selection of other comments we’ve received through LinkedIn.
First from the USA, a comment that proves this is not just a problem in the UK…
‘The vending industry has become the scapegoat for many of the health issues facing America today…we have been beaten up by corporate wellness groups…dietitians… and our governments…yet those same customers we are forced to offer healthy choices to in our operations…. and lessen our sales because of it…. are the people on a bar stool on the weekend downing multiple brews and hot wings…..or at Starbucks every morning ordering a $4.00 double latte with caramel and cream!!! Americans who are unhealthy…will remain unhealthy…it’s no ones job but theirs to change that course… we all have the ability to make choices. An addict will always find drugs!’
Next, a neat twist on High Street coffee-shop offerings…
Maybe she should go to Costa or Starbucks and see what the calories are in a slice of carrot cake 695 and a large hot choc with all the trimmings 1000!! nothing in a vending machine comes close!
It’s not vending machines that are causing obesity it’s the fast food / coffee shops with Go Large, funny how everything has gone smaller in a vending machine
Ready for a comment from a disgruntled vending man?
As a long-time member of the Vending and Foodservice industry, I am also totally fed-up with the bad press that various food offerings get. It’s about time that the consumer took responsibility for their own actions. Snacks items do not jump out of vending machines into folks mouths, they have to make a decision to purchase these items. It’s all about choice, the consumer should have, and does in fact have the right to choose what food items they purchase and consume. I believe it is up to our industry to provide them with choices, including healthier alternatives, but at the end of the day, it’s up to the consumer to choose.’
And now for something completely different:
Here we go again! Machines will be banned in airports because they are making people fat and overloading the planes. Machines in leisure centres will be banned because how could fit people possibly be allowed to eat high energy food. Machines in offices will be banned because people are getting chocolate on their fingers and transferring it on to documents. Machines in theme parks will be banned because people are drinking soft drinks and then throwing up when they are hurtled upside down at 100 mph on a roller coaster. Don’t laugh… you never know what’s next
