Jargon Buster

Cut through the nutritional jargon with our guide to what’s what in the world of nutrition.

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.

SMRP – School Meals Review Panel

The School Meals Review Panel was set up in May 2005 and was commissioned, by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, to recommend tougher nutritional standards for school lunches. It produced the report: Turning the Tables: Transforming School Food (see below).

SFT – School Food Trust

The School Food Trust is an independent body with the unique remit of transforming school food and food skills. It was set up as a Non Departmental Public Body in 2005 with £15 million of funding from the then Department for Education and Skills (replaced by Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)) to promote the education and health of children and young people by improving the quality of food supplied and consumer in schools. In April 2007 the School Food Trust became registered as a Charity.

Following consultation on the report ‘Turning the Tables: Transforming School Food’ published by the School Meals Review Panel in October 2005 and the Food Other than Lunch report, published by the School Food Trust in February 2006, the Government announced the standards it intended to apply to school food in May 2006. The Trust is charged with taking forward these standards to transform school food and food skills to improve health and education for school age children and young people.

www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk

DcFS – The Department for Children, Schools & Families

The purpose of the Department for Children, Schools and Families is to make England the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up. The Department aims to:

• Make children and young people happy and healthy
• Keep them safe and sound
• Give them a top class education
• Help them stay on track

www.dfes.gov.uk

CWT – Caroline Walker Trust

The Caroline Walker Trust was founded in 1988 after the death of distinguished nutritionist, writer and campaigner, Caroline Walker.

Established to continue her work and in her spirit, the CWT depends wholly on donations, legacies and project grants.

The work of the CWT is particularly targeted towards vulnerable groups and people who need special help. They produce nutritional and practical guidelines for both young and old.

www.cwt.org.uk

FSA – The Food Standards Agency

The Food Standards Agency is an independent Government department set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public’s health and consumer interests in relation to food.

Everything they do reflects their vision of safe food and healthy eating for all.

www.food.gov.uk

TNS – 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.

http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/tnsschool2006.pdf

GDAs – Guideline Daily Amounts

Guidelines Daily Amounts (GDAs) provide a quick and easy reference point to what’s in packaged food, purchased from retailers.

GDAs provide an indication of how much of a specific nutrient you should be aiming to eat a day. GDA information is shown in the nutrition panel on packaging for retail food products, as well as by some caterers on meal choices.

www.whatsinsideguide.co.uk

Traffic Light Labelling

Traffic light labelling is used on retail packaging, to indicate whether products contain a high, medium or low amount of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, in what the manufacturer or retailer suggests as a ‘serving’ of the food.

A red flash on the front of the pack indicates the food is high in something that consumers should be cutting down on (e.g. saturated fat, salt and added sugars) – so the food would be fine to have the food occasionally or as a treat.

An amber flash means the food isn’t high or low in the nutrient, making it an OK choice most of the time. A green light means the food is low in that nutrient – the more green lights, the healthier the choice.

Unlike GDAs though, Traffic Lights are not mandatory for all retail packaging. In some cases both traffic lights the GDAs will be shown on pack, in other examples the traffic lights may not be used at all – usage remains at the discretion of the manufacturer and retailer.

www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/trafficlights/

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

EFSA’s remit covers food and feed safety, nutrition, animal health and welfare, plant protection and plant health. In all these fields, EFSA’s most critical commitment is to provide objective and independent science-based advice and clear communication grounded in the most up-to-date scientific information and knowledge.