Olympic Builders Fed Porridge to Stop Worksite Accidents

Porridge. Breakfast of champions?

Olympic organizers gave construction workers working on the Olympic village discounted porridge breakfasts to keep their blood sugar levels up – and found it reduced the number of accidents on site.

The Olympic Delivery Authority, responsible for building the venues to be used in the 2012 London Games, said Tuesday that many of its workers were eating unhealthy fast food at night and routinely skipping breakfast. The workers then got hungry in late morning and struggled to concentrate on their jobs.

Health and safety chief Lawrence Waterman said the authority offered workers healthy breakfasts including bowls of porridge for one pound ($1.57) and noticed a drop in the number of late morning accidents.