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The UK's Education Minister, Alan Johnson, has recently announced new minimum nutrition standards for school food to ensure healthier eating throughout the school day. Meals high in salt, fat and sugar or containing low quality meat products will be banned from lunchtime menus. Deep fried items will make up no more than two portions per week and each lunch must comprise at least two portions of fruit or vegetables. The sale of carbonated soft drinks, crisps, chocolate and other confectionery from vending machines and tuck shops will be outlawed and schools given guidance on how to serve healthier options from them.
An absolute deluge of press statements, web sites, rules, guidelines and exhortations by various Government Departments and spokespersons have followed Channel 4's TV series put together by the chef, Jamie Oliver in February 2005 which highlighted the pitiful state of school catering services. The School Meals Review Panel* first outlined it recommendations in the autumn of 2005, and these were followed by a consultation carried out by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) from October - December 2005. Responses to the consultation and regulatory impact assessments on the proposed new nutritional standards for school meals can be accessed from the DfES web site.
The new measures announced this week include money for improvements to school kitchens and better training for school cooks. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is being asked to consider how to put greater emphasis on teaching practical cooking skills to 11-14 year old pupils and making sure they learn about diet, nutrition, food safety and hygiene as well. The Food Standards Agency has laid down target nutrients specifications (voluntary) for maximum levels of total fat, saturated fat, sodium/salt and sugar in a range of manufactured foods used in school meals including bread, poultry products, soups, sausages and burgers. Target minimum values for protein content have been set for vegetarian foods. Procurement guides from the DfES are intended to help schools obtain healthier foods and to re-negotiate or terminate contracts with suppliers unable to meet the new criteria.
Mike Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers told BBC Health News that he is concerned that imposing too strict a ban on junk foods may backfire as children will simply go home or visit the local chip shop. On the other hand, the teachers' union the NASUWT said that the recommendations would make a valuable contribution to improving the health and well-being of young people. The consumer group Which? welcomed the new guidelines but felt that unless there was tighter control on the way in which food companies marketed food to children, parents would struggle to reinforce the healthy food messages at home. The Scottish Executive is also planning to ban junk foods from schools, and in Wales a working group will publish a report on nutritional standards next month. Northern Ireland's department of education is carrying out a public consultation on similar issues. (More comment at BBC News 19/05/06).
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