Schools

School catering can be a minefield. We’ve cut through the noise, to give you a little clarity.

Hungry for Success

Where the demand for healthier food in schools all started. Implemented in Scotland by the devolved government, the Hungry for Success initiative introduced nutritional guidelines for school meals in primary schools that are far more stringent than those in England.

School Meals Review Panel

Nutritional guidelines for schools in England followed suit with the Government appointed School Meals Review Panel. In October 2005 it published its report ‘Turning the Tables’.

The report proposed radical changes to the quality and nutritional value of food served and consumed in school and has resulted in new standards for school food which will be fully phased in by September 2009.

For greater detail: See School Food Trust Website: www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk

Does it affect me?

The new school food standards cover all food sold or served in all schools: breakfast, lunch and after-school meals; and tuck vending, mid-morning break and after-school clubs. The timetable for reform is:

• September 2008 - primary schools to meet new nutrient based standards for school lunches
• September 2009 - secondary schools to meet new nutrient based standards for school lunches

For more info, visit:

Guide to Food Based Standards

Guide to Nutrient Based Standards

What are the standards? What should I be doing?

The standards determine the range of foods that should be on offer in a school catering environment.

For full details see the links listed above. Key specifications include the following:

• Fruit & Vegetables – not less than two portions per day per child must be available, at least one of which should be salad or vegetables, and at least one should be fruit (fresh or tinned)
• Oily Fish – must be available at least once every three weeks*
• Meat Products – manufactured meat products may be served occasionally as part of school lunches, provided they:
• Meet specified legal minimum meat content levels
• Are not ‘economy’ burgers
• Contain no offal listed in the specifications
• Bread – should be available on a daily basis
• Deep-fried food – meals should not contain more than two deep-fried items in a single week
• Drinks – specified drinks only to be available
• Water – easily accessible and free at all times
• Salt & Condiments – table salt should not be available. Condiments should be available only in sachets
• Confectionery & Savoury Snacks – specified confectionery shall not be available. The only savoury snacks available should be nuts and seeds with no added salt or sugar

*The FSA recommends everyone should eat two portions of fish a week (one of which is an oily fish)

What are TNS?

TNS stands for Target Nutrient Specifications. The TNS indicate the maximum and minimum levels for key nutrients in manufactured foods used in school meals.

They are a voluntary reference tool designed to help procurers and caterers of school meals meet nutritional specifications when selecting products to use.

At Birds Eye Foodservice we’ve worked hard to develop a product range that delivers against key TNS recommendations, and we will continue to deliver innovation in this area (such as the forthcoming development of a non pre-fry product range, for example).

For more info visit: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/tnsschool2006.pdf