Last updated at 12:10, Friday, 14 November 2008

LOTS of motorists love to stop at roadside burger vans for a fry-up. Takeaway vans are renowned for ntheir fatty food, but health chiefs in Surey are forcing them to ofer healthy snacks as well. DAVID PICKTHALL asks burger van owners in Furness if they think truckers will pick salad over sausage.

“YOU try giving a trucker salad in the middle of winter and you’ll likely get a black eye off him,” jokes Ulverston burger van owner Al Braithwaite.

But that’s exactly what health bosses in Surrey are demanding of roadside fast food vendors in the Guildford district.

Under new rules, which are specific to Guildford, roadside greasy spoons must offer customers at least one healthy option.

That means low fat yogurts, wholemeal bread or salad must now be on the menu alongside the traditional stodgy fare of sausages and burgers.

Burger flippers are also being urged to grill, not fry, their meat, and cut down on mayonnaise because it is very high in fat.

Environmental officers will also have the power to cancel a vendors’ trading licence if they don’t meet strict new hygiene standards.

Burger van owners in Furness say they are all for healthy eating, but insist the health chiefs are wasting their time.

“It just won’t sell,” says Al Braithwaite, who runs Al’s Tuck Stop on Dalton by-pass with his partner Jude Robinson.

“The reason people come to these places and why we all sell the same stuff is because that’s what people buy.

“We wouldn’t be against selling it, but there’s no money in it.

“We tried salad when we first set off seven years ago. It might work in the middle of summer, but if you tried to give a trucker salad in the middle of winter you would likely get a black eye off him.”

Mr Braithwaite, of The Ellers, Ulverston, griddles his meat and uses no added fat, but cooks to please his market.

He adds: “We get lorry drivers, van drivers, trippers, everything. I do occasionally get asked for other things. I’ve been asked for lobster thermador, but I told him the lobster had run away!

“It’s what people want. You can’t dictate people’s tastes. It’s not a huge market. But there’s nowhere you can go in a lorry, you can’t get through a drive through.

“It’s councils, they’re paid to come up with daft ideas.”

Paula Southward, owner of TJ’s Snacks, also on Dalton by-pass, has tried and failed with healthy options.

“Last year I used to sell lettuce, tomatoes and onions to offer salad to people but nobody would have it,” says Ms Southward, 30, from Askam. “They were throwing it all away.

“The majority of people coming here throw away the salad their wives have put in their pack up for them.

“Breakfast buns are most popular and they’re the most fatty things you can think of.”

Ms Southward, who grills her meat, thinks the scheme is a good idea, but believes councillors have not considered the limited space available in burger vans.

She says: “The thing with yogurts is I only have limited fridge space. I have one fridge for cans of pop and another for meat, so there’s no room.

“I did have mayo and salad cream but it didn’t get used, only the odd person would buy it. It’s a good thing in one way.

“You should have the healthy option, but to get them to eat it is another thing altogether. You can’t force people.”

Customers queuing at Al’s Tuck Stop knew exactly what they wanted. “I come for sausage, bacon, egg and a coffee – you can hold the lettuce,” says lorry driver Dave Scott from Blackburn.

“You can give people the choice, why not?

“But at the end of the day it’s entirely up to you what you want to eat.”

Mike Burden, a builder from Carlisle, thinks the idea defeats the object: “I come for a fry-up – a breakfast box with a cup of tea. I always do, it’s a belter.

“There’s no chance of rabbit food, and if I wanted it I would go elsewhere for it. It wouldn’t be a burger van if you had people asking for salad.”

So far South Cumbrian councils don’t seem to be following Guildford’s lead.

A spokesperson for Copeland Borough Council environmental health said: “There are no plans to look into that particular area at present, but we are participating in a county-wide scheme to raise awareness of high salt content in fish and chip shop food and other takeaways.”

Phil Newton, Barrow Borough Council commercial services team leader, said: “It has not been considered.

“We do look at burger vans from a food safety point of view, but there are not any intentions of doing that sort of thing.”

First published at 11:47, Friday, 14 November 2008
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk