Veganism

(asked on 26th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) take steps to ensure that vegan meals are offered to inpatients diagnosed with eating disorders and (b) encourage drug companies to develop vegan-friendly prescription (i) medications, (ii) supplement drinks and (iii) feeds.


Answered by
Stephen Hammond Portrait
Stephen Hammond
This question was answered on 2nd April 2019

National Health Service trusts have mechanisms in place for vegan dietary requirements which would be flagged up as a special diet on admission. The kitchens would then provide suitable plant based substitutes to meet nutritional requirements. Each trust will have in place a special menu which will have been signed off by the dietician but would normally be ordered as a special diet. Currently, main ward menus would not provide a vegan choice specifically on the main menu although some vegetarian options would be suitable and marked as such. The new healthcare food standards and strategy group is looking at how all special diets are provided and will cover guidance for trusts around areas such as vegan diets.

Medicines manufacturers are to some extent already moving towards animal free products where possible. This allows access to all global markets and reduces regulatory burden. The direction of travel is towards vegetarian/vegan-friendly medicines and this may be aided by future regulatory developments. Technical considerations may make animal-derived ingredients necessary in a few cases, until scientific developments allow substitution.

The Department does not offer any vegan supplement drinks or feeds that are either freely available or via prescription.

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