… but don’t worry, because that’s where they’re serving it.
Pie oh my a pastry snack labelled a “heart attack on a plate” has gone on sale at a hospital shop.
The fry-up breakfast pie is crammed with bacon, sausage, beans and even comes with an egg on top. It is being sold at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, just corridors away from wards where doctors are fighting to save stroke and heart attack victims.
Last night, former government advisor, Professor Mike Lean, blasted the fat-laden snack as a “shocking” example of a meal.
“It should never be anywhere near a hospital,” he said. “It is laden with fat, salt and without a vegetable in sight. There should be strict guidelines for all food sold in hospitals.”
The pie is on sale at a take-away counter of a shop within the large hospital.
There are now calls to ban the saturated snack. Members of national weight watchdog The National Obesity Forum expressed astonishment at its availability.
“What we have here is a heart attack on a plate,” said spokesman Tam Fry. “It should be absolutely obligatory for the NHS to have wholesome food whether it is from a take-away shop within hospitals or on menus.
“The NHS is creaking under the weight of the nation’s obesity problem.”
Labour health spokesman Neil Findlay said the onus on NHS Scotland to set a good dietary example.
“NHS hospitals should be leading the way in encouraging people to eat a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet,” he said.
One Ninewells Hospital patient said there have been staff complaints about the pies.
He said: “There are so many huge and obese staff and patients here. It’s the last place that should be selling something like this.
“A few of the staff have complained, but the management don’t seem to care because they must walk past the pies on their way in and out of the hospital.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside admitted the pies are on sale at one of their take-away outlets but insisted that healthy food is available too.
She said: “There are a wide range of meals, snacks and drinks available for the public and staff to choose from including healthy breakfast options such as cereals, fresh orange juice, low fat yogurts and fresh fruit.
“These are provided by NHS Tayside dining rooms as well as third-party providers on the concourse of the hospital.
“All 11 NHS Tayside dining areas that are accessed by staff and public hold the national Healthyliving Award Plus, which recognises a greater commitment to supporting healthier eating.
“We now require third-party providers who we contract with to achieve the Healthyliving Award.”
The National Audit Office estimates that obesity is costing the NHS £5.1 billion a year.
Snack is crust wrong
by Chae Strathie
I’m no stranger to a pie just ask my waistline. But even as a veteran visitor to bakers across the land I gasped with shock when I first clapped my eyes on this monstrosity.
There’s a time and place for a breakfast fry-up and it isn’t at 3pm crammed into a greasy pastry casing.
I slowly picked up the pie, eying the rubbery sausages suspiciously. The fried egg which cloaked the top of the pie like a white and yellow funeral shroud had the consistency of Tupperware and a shard of hard pink bacon rose from the mess like a camp shark fin.
After being shouted at and prodded with a stick by Sunday Post photographer Andy, I finally mustered the courage to take a bite.
Cold beans tumbled down my chin and a crusty sausage got wedged up a nostril. I chewed grimly, tears welling in my eyes as I felt my heart start to shudder at the prospect of the unholy payload of badness that was about to be delivered to it.
This isn’t food it’s an affront to nature! An abomination! It should be added to a UN list of dangerous weapons!
Having said that, next time I have a hangover, I’ll be ordering two . . .
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