Diet and Nutrition

The safety, quality, and nutritional value of the food we eat is of fundamental importance to our health and well-being. Food safety and nutrition are therefore key concerns for the Environmental Health profession.

Diet and nutrition play a major role in health and disease. It is generally recognised that poor diet and nutrition can lead to ill health and contribute to premature death. In many countries of the world, including the UK, obesity is now a major public health issue but there are also problems with malnutrition and food poverty.

Food businesses can play their part, for example by providing accurate nutrition labelling and or reformulating their products to reduce the levels of sugar, salt and fat.

Short Guides for Food Businesses

Food Standards Scotland have produced a series of short guides (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) for food businesses providing practical tips and advice on making changes to the food and drinks, prepared promoted and served to make it healthier. These guides support the ambition to create a healthier food environment in Scotland.  

Healthy Eating Tutorial

Food Standards Scotland have an online Healthy Eating tool (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) for those who are looking for an introduction to nutrition and who may be required to provide healthy eating messages to others as part of their job. This could include those working in health and social care, education, community groups, local authorities, retail, catering and/or food manufacturing. This tutorial may also be of interest to consumers who want to learn more about healthy eating. 

The tutorial has been developed by Food Standards Scotland in collaboration with Public Health Scotland.