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Eighty per cent healthy snacks: New rules to clear junk food from hospital vending machines
Ministry of Consumer Affairs puts patients and visitors first with fresh decree for hospitals and care homes
The Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs is ready to crack down on vending machines in hospitals and nursing homes, mandating that at least 80% of their products must be healthy. This new decree, announced by Minister Pablo Bustinduy, will limit ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks to the least visible spots in these machines, ensuring that fresh fruit, sugar-free yoghurts, juices, nuts, and whole-grain options take centre stage.Bustinduy highlighted the importance of this move at a recent event in Madrid, saying: "We are going to regulate the contents of vending machines to ensure that at least 80% of the food is healthy." The change will affect not just hospitals but also nursing homes, day centres, and health centres, places where families and friends often rely on vending machines for quick bites.
Coffee from vending machines will come unsweetened by default, with users allowed to add up to a maximum of five grams of sugar, while free drinking water fountains will be installed. “These may seem like small things, but they are common sense and in the public interest because they ensure that citizens see their rights: the right to healthy food and the right to safe environments, especially for the most vulnerable, guaranteed by public authorities,” Bustinduy said.
This initiative builds on earlier efforts to remove unhealthy snacks and drinks from hospitals - a journey already underway in several centres, including Murcia’s largest hospital, when back in August the region began clearing junk food from vending machines. The government hopes that setting high standards in healthcare settings will encourage similar changes across other public spaces.
With consumption of ultra-processed foods having tripled in the last two decades, the Ministry sees this as a crucial step in promoting healthier living. Among the upcoming measures are also bans on ultra-processed children's menus in hospitals, and stricter controls on advertising unhealthy foods to children, a battle Minister Bustinduy acknowledges is tough but essential.
As Pablo Bustinduy put it, "Eating is not, and cannot be, a mere formality; it is a dimension of our social and cultural life. Therefore, public institutions must develop measures to ensure that the right to eat well is not a privilege."
This new decree, currently being finalised, promises to make hospitals and care homes healthier places, protecting everyone especially those most vulnerable while making healthier choices easier for visitors, patients, and staff alike.
Image: Chatgpt
