Healthy Eating in the Workplace

A supportive environment is much more than making healthy food choices available to employees. To support employees, provide surroundings and conditions that foster healthy eating.

Consider these for your workplace:

• Ensure healthy food choices are available to all, including those working shifts and in all venues such as the cafeteria and in vending machines. Provide healthy food choices (when you require food) at all workplace functions, including meetings and events.
• Promote healthy food choices in places where you sell food. Consider displaying healthy foods at eye level in vending machines and in highly visible spots in the cafeteria.
• Ensure employees have enough time for meal breaks in clean, inviting areas away from their workspace.
• Provide a kitchen with amenities such as a sink, refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, kettle, hot water dispenser, water fountain and an ice dispenser.
• Avoid using food as a reward for employees or for fundraising in the workplace.

Consider developing and implementing policies that support healthy eating. Promote your policy to employees and be consistent with policy implementation to ensure success.

Consider these Policy Options:

• Provide healthy food choices (when you require food) at all workplace functions, including meetings and events. 
• Ensure that healthy food is available to employees working all shifts, if you provide food.
• Accommodate dietary needs or restrictions when organizing workplace functions.
• Provide healthy food and beverage choices at a comparable or lower cost than other less healthy choices.
• Provide locally grown and produced food, when possible.
• Do not sell non-nutritious foods for fundraisers (e.g., bake sales, cookie and chocolate bar fundraising programs).
• Provide easily accessible municipal tap water for staff..
• Provide safe and clean food storage and preparation areas.
• Offer nutritional counselling by a Registered Dietitian as part of a benefits package or Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP).

Show employees where to find reliable nutrition information for themselves and their families. This may create buy-in for healthy eating supportive environments and policies in your workplace. Consider:

• Providing employees with healthy eating information on bulletin boards, on the company intranet, in newsletters, or during meetings.
• Promoting online education and skill building opportunities.

Places to find reliable nutrition information include:

UnlockFood.ca provides nutrition information in factsheets, articles and videos.

Canada’s Food Guide website has information to support healthy eating.

Residents of Ontario can connect with a Registered Dietitian to access free nutrition information and advice by calling 811 or starting a chat.

Adapted and reproduced from the Region of Waterloo Public Health and Durham Region Health Department.