KEY POINTS:
Doctors and nurses stuck with a king-sized chocolate craving will be left wanting at Auckland hospitals.
Full-sized chocolate bars have been banned from the snack vending machines at Auckland District Health Board sites - and full-fat milk in tearooms could be next.
Some staff say the "food police"
have overstepped the mark.
The move is part of a plan to place an 800 kilojoule-an-item cap on products in on-site vending machines.
Under the limit, chocolate bars, including Arnott's Tim Tam Fingers, with 870kj, Twix with 1230kj and Cadbury Picnic with 1120kj, will be ruled out. Cadbury Crunchie will scrape in, with 762kj a bar.
An Auckland City Hospital vending machine yesterday offered Whittakers 25g Sante Bars, Nestle Milo and Aero bars for sale. Specific shelves within the machine were tagged "healthier options".
Kate Sladden, manager of Auckland's Healthy Eating Healthy Action project, said the board had to set a good example.
She admitted there was probably "a bit of grumbling" from staff craving a sugar hit but said the move addressed the bigger picture.
"Obesity is the biggest public health problem we've got," said Ms Sladden. "We're providing a health service, we are giving out a lot of education around healthy eating, so we should have some role-modelling."
Representatives from the three district health boards in greater Auckland worked together on the plan, part of a wider health push that could eventually see full-fat milk phased out of Auckland hospital tearooms.
Last night, Dr Graham Sharpe, president of the Society of Anaesthetists, said: "This has also been happening in Wellington. There used to be a supply of grated cheese to make cheese on toast but that's been withdrawn because it is considered too high in fat.
"I think this is detrimental to the delivery of health care in New Zealand because it leads to interruptions of [doctors'] lists during the day.
"Instead of being able to grab a quick snack between cases, like cheese on toast which never did anyone any harm, people are now thinking, 'If my contribution isn't that valued, I will take a lunch break'.
"It's yet another instance where an ill-thought-out idea has had a negative impact on the delivery of healthcare."
Dr Sharpe said "highly educated" staff knew what was unhealthy.
Last year, the Ministry of Health's annual food and nutrition monitoring report included plans to monitor the "nutrition environment" in workplaces for two years.
