Food groups are divided by horizontal lines in the graphic and thus suggesting the percentage of food for a daily diet.

There are several sorts of pyramid, according to the national specificities but generally, here are the main food groups presented:

• Cereals and grains
• Vegetables and fruit
• Dairy products
• Meat, fish, poultry, eggs
• Fats (unsaturated)
• Sweets and saturated fats

The FOOD partner AESAN goes further in a guide which proposes a pyramid and several tables of food equivalences per geographic regions. It enables to adapt balanced diet, including when eating foreign food.

• Spanish food pyramid (equivalences) on FOOD Website

“A healthy diet for all!”

It addresses:
•    work-related physical and psychosocial risks;
•    promotion and support of healthy behaviours;
•    broader social and environmental determinants.

WHO regards the workplace as a setting for protecting and promoting the health of workers, their families and the community.

• For more information and/or access the publication, click here.

This work has been carried out by the Panel, following the demand of the European Commission to update the first advice on dietary reference values (DRVs) first set out in 1993.

EFSA is currently preparing advice on protein and energy and will start its work on vitamins and minerals later in 2010.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the keystone of European Union (EU) risk assessment regarding food and feed safety. In close collaboration with national authorities and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.

• More info at : www.efsa.europa.eu

During the Congress, relevant academic, scientific and institutional figures from different countries will discuss the nutritional, cultural and anthropological aspects of the Mediterranean Diet, a millennium-old heritage shared by the populations of the Mediterranean basin.

The Grand Covian Award is granted to a figure of the scientific world and the Diplomas of Honor in recognition of a figure of another field’s career who have contributed to the dissemination of the Mediterranean Diet.

The President of the VIIIth Barcelona International Congress on the Mediterranean Diet is Igor de Garine, an eminent Director of Research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris and President of the International Commission on Anthropology of Food (ICAF).

• http://congresodietamediterranea.info

The purpose is to offer a local website with concrete topics and proximity information. With a fresh look and an attractive content, it’s definitely going to raise employers, employees and restaurant owners’ interest in the programme. Moreover, visitors can directly take part in the project by downloading or ordering the communication tools, while restaurant owners and chefs have also the opportunity to win a short and valuable training.

What else can you do on this website? Calculate your well-being quotient, find a FOOD restaurant, pick up some balanced recipes, get information about the programme progress, download the communication tools, sign in to join the project… and more to come.

• www.foodprogram.be

It is aimed at employees and general public, who can evaluate their well-being quotient at the end of the animation.

Then, a clickable logo transfers the viewer to a FOOD page. The video is easy to export to any website and you can now find it the brand new FOOD Belgian website.

The animation exists in both French and Dutch and can be translated in any European language. Former “animated explanations” have shown a great success and we expect this one to meet the same enthusiasm.

• Watch the movie

There is no strong project without a strong evaluation.

In effect, an evaluation plan forces the partners to concentrate on impact indictors and to follow a strict methodology. The purpose is to obtain good results as well as a solid process quality.

It has been proved that general meetings are often more efficient when it comes to a general concern. This is why the coordinator has decided to invite all associated partners to take part in the 2nd Steering Committee meeting in Madrid which agenda focused on the evaluation plan.
A first plan was submitted in Paris in July but this meeting has been the opportunity to discuss concrete actions and to go deeply into the details of implementation and responsibilities.
The evaluator took notes about the constraints of time and budget in order to find solutions which would not hamper the quality of the actions.

After long debates, a clear structure has been identified which will lead the Work package leaders and all partners’ work.

After a one month tour, it is high time to assess the success of the operation.
“This Road Show was the achievement of ten months of intensive work for the Head Office and each country involved and it set its official launch,” says Nathalie Renaudin, Vice President for Institutional Relations and in charge of the FOOD programme.

It is thanks to the deep involvement of the national teams that this event was a real success.

“Everybody was personally involved and we saw different evolutions of the Road Show according to the different cultures encountered during the tour. The long line outside of the bus in Spain was truly memorable: it was incredible to see so many people waiting to participate in the bus activities and it showed the real interest of the public. Conferences on balanced nutrition in Belgium and Italy also gathered many visitors. The vegetable garden set out in Paris was marvellous. In addition, in Czech Republic, the shows organized by actors as well as the activities dealing with high cholesterol were really successful. On the French and Swedish side, chefs used a very original approach to address balanced food. Indeed, they performed cooking demonstrations and managed to show that taste and pleasure could be combined with balance. Finally, in four of the six countries, there was a 10-kg jacket that visitors could put on to realize the impact of excess weight on the body” tells Nathalie.

Campaigns targeting employees and restaurants were launched after this fruitful European tour and each country is now finalising its own tools, better adapted to their local targets.

In a nutshell, this is only the beginning of FOOD, many more beautiful actions are to take place in the six countries.

Paris, October 6th 2009

Brussels, October 7th & 8th

Stockholm, October 10th

Prague, October 16th

Milan, October 21st

Madrid, October 27th

More than 1500 visitors came and participated to the activities organised by the Accor Services teams and partners: AESAN, FDM, FOOD PRO FIT.

As a consequence of the crowd, each person had first to calculate its BMI with a nutritionist to go on board whereas the lower platform of the bus was dedicated to the FOOD e-learning DVD.

The upper platform offered seminars every thirty minutes, in which the partner FDM and nutritionists explained to the visitors what a balanced diet is and how to eat well.
In parallel, visitors could savour many Mediterranean specialties prepared by the Chef Mario Barrero as well as different original and delicious juices to vary the breakfast: such as a popular mix with carrots, oranges and strawberries.

Finally, people were invited to try a 10kg vest, aiming at demonstrating the impact of excess weight on the body.This event was a huge success, which confirms the need for information and sensitisation.

The campaigns of sensitisation directed at both employees and restaurants have just started through this great Road Show and each country is now working on dedicated tools adapted to its local targets.

• Follow the news on the website: www.food-programme.eu