Table 2 Summary of resulting themes and representative quotes from cafeteria users and staff in a department store in Mexico City participating in focus group discussions about healthy eating

Perception of healthy eating

Freshness, balanced and variety

Most meals were based on meat and carbohydrates with not enough vegetables. Fruits and vegetables were the most commonly mentioned healthy foods.

“They are not balanced meals, it is either fried, or rice and pasta (Sales staff)”“We need more variety (of foods) because it is usually limited to red meat, marinades, red sauce, green sauce (Sales managers)”

Hygiene

Lack of hygiene protocols and some people reported gastrointestinal problems.

“Sometimes they have the pots with food on the floor and the glasses and utensils are dirty (Sales manager)”

“If they give us a lot of food, we need to be careful. It is not a good sign, we can get sick. We all got sick the next day after having the leftovers (Maintenance staff)”

Nutrient and food composition

Healthy food was related to fruits and vegetables, low salt, and low fat. Foods high in oil, salt, or sugar were considered unhealthy, although traditionally Mexican and inexpensive.

“You have to use three four napkins to remove the amount of fat on the food (Sales staff)”“It would be healthier to cook with less fat and less salt, more vegetable steamed options, a little more natural (Shipping staff)”“For me the food is very garnachera (traditional street dish composed of a fried tortilla topped with various ingredients). I know that the Mexican diet is like this, tacos and all that stuff, but for me it is very heavy and fatty. It seems that they cook that a lot, maybe because it is cheap. But it is always very very fatty (Sales staff)”

Quality

Served meals that contained hardened meat, dry bread, or burnt tortillas, as well as foods stored overnight, were deemed of poor quality.

“They serve us food from 2 or 3 days ago and it doesn’t taste good (Maintenance staff)”

Facilitators to healthy eating

Availability of healthy food¹

Availability of healthy food options was a major motivator for healthy eating.

“I lean more towards vegetables, having more vegetable options in the cafeteria would be great (Administrative staff)”

“I believe that if we get into the habit of eating vegetables, we can change (Sales staff)”

Health awareness²

Employees were aware of their health, especially older participants and employees with higher occupational levels.

“The obesity problem in Mexico is because people have everything to eat, it’s on us, nobody is being told to go and eat five tortillas and a soda (Sales staff)”

Price¹

Cafeteria food was subsidized by the store. Food was also directly deducted from the payroll. Kitchen staff did not pay for food.

“The price of a meal is very good, if you go out you end up paying 70 pesos or more (Sales managers)”“A salad in the street has lettuce, a slice of tomato, some cheese strips, some ham strips, and it is small and costs around thirty five pesos (1.85 UDS). I think the worksite cafeteria could charge fifty pesos (2.63 UDS) if they will offer us healthier foods (Administrative staff)”

Nutrition education²

Useful not only to better understand what workers should eat at work, but also to extend this knowledge to their families.

“We need to receive information if you want to have an impact, provide hard data, explain why a food is good or bad for our health (Administrative staff)”

“We need to receive information on healthy eating and disease prevention if you want to have an impact on our dietary behaviors and health, provide hard data, explain why a food is good or bad for our health (Administrative staff)”

Cafeteria staff pointed out that informing cafeteria users about the importance of healthy eating, since the information would support changes in the foods offered.

“It should be publicized: the company is concerned about your health, you will pay the same price in the cafeteria, but will have healthier food options (Cafeteria staff)”

Taste²

Some healthy options were sometimes offered, but they were not tasty.

“We should pay more attention on how food is being cooked. Here we call it chicken or tuna salad, but it’s really lettuce and mayonnaise, it is not something people want to eat … If we serve them lettuce and chicken or tuna with mayonnaise, obviously people will not like it (Kitchen staff)” “… they serve salads but without creativity, they only put mayonnaise and lettuce (Sales staff)”

Food preferences²

There is a preference for fatty foods and meat. Fatty food is part of the “Mexican culinary culture” and it is usually cheap.

Cafeteria staff pointed out that when healthy foods are offered, employees did not consume them.

“When you ask workers, they will say they want vegetables, but when vegetables are offered, they complain and they ask for the meat (Cafeteria staff)”

“The boss came to eat and I offered him vegetables, but he did not take them. He wanted the French fries and rice (Cafeteria staff)”

Job intensity¹

Eating healthy is only for certain types of workers, mainly those who have sedentary or office jobs. More physically active workers required foods that satisfy them. There was a perception that in order to perform intense work it is necessary to eat and drink a lot of carbohydrates.

“An executive spends most of his time sitting, so they know that if they eat a lot of food they may compromise their health. But here, in the kitchen, we spend most of our time standing. Sales staff are also always standing, we need more fulfilling foods, like bread and meat (Cafeteria staff)”

“If I eat vegetables, I get hungry again after a while (Sales staff)”

Food quality¹

Offerings has too much meat and carbohydrates, and not enough vegetables; food was cooked with a lot of fat.

“It is meat daily, either beef or pork... from my perspective I do not think it is healthy to eat meat so many times a week (Cafeteria staff)”

Price¹

For low wage workers maintenance and shipping staff, food was not cheap.

They were eating the leftovers, raising the issue of food price inequity.

“I don’t earn enough money to pay for the food in the dining room, the cost is so high (Maintenance staff)”

“They are serving us leftovers … we don’t have the food made that day... the least they can do is charge us half the cost for this food... because it is not fair that we pay the same as others who are eating food made that day (Maintenance staff)”

Time¹

For some type of workers, lunch may be their only meal. They had no time to prepare breakfast or dinner due to long working hours and commuting.

“We usually only eat one meal a day. Once I get back home from work, I want to sleep (Restaurant staff)”

Employees has long working hours and lack of breaks, so they had to eat more carbohydrates and fat to fill them up.

“We work 10–12 h shifts, with 1:30 h break for lunch. But after lunch and before going home we don’t get breaks (Sales staff)”

For some type of workers, there was not sufficient time to eat within workplace; meal schedules were not respected. They could not eat at a defined time, nor take the time to eat calmly.

“I believe that a person, who is not well cared for, cannot work well, and if a person is not fed, it leads to stress with the customers. If we do not eat, we provide bad service even if we don’t want to (Restaurant staff)”

Lack of kitchen personnel and infrastructure¹

Cafeteria staff believed it is necessary to hire more kitchen staff to cook and serve the more than one thousand employees.

“We are few people working in the kitchen. The staff is 16, and 3 people are off every day (Cafeteria staff)”

Cafeteria staff believed it was necessary to have better utensils and appliances.

“We have to use of oil because otherwise the food sticks on the pan (Cafeteria staff)”