Healthy School Dinners Launch
Nuggets in short supply for pupils
Chicken nuggets, crisps and the deep-fat frier are all being put on detention this week as new government guidelines for school dinners are put into action. The Department for Education and Skills' guidelines mean that your children's school meals should be very different to what they were a year or so ago.
Healthier options are all being promoted, while food that's high in salt, sugar or is deep-fried has been given the axe. The new guidelines are as follows:
Every day pupils should have at least two servings of fruit and vegetables
Oily fish should be served at least once every three weeks
Bread should be on the menu every day
Pupils should have access to free, fresh drinking water
Salt on the table is banned and condiments such as ketchup and mayonnaise should only be available in sachets
Only two portions of deep-fried foods to be served per week
Meat products such as chicken nuggets can be served only 'occasionally' and even then they must meet the government's minimum standards for meat content
The only savoury snacks available at lunchtime should be nuts and seeds with no added salt, fat or sugar.
The new guidelines may be popular with parents, but the Automatic Vending Association is up in arms. 'Prohibition on products from snack machines is not really going to make any slightest difference in the size of children,' argued a spokesperson for the association. 'Really the problem is that the take-up of school lunches is so poor and likely to decrease because of the increase in cost.'
The new guidelines will only come in play for English pupils. Both Wales and Scotland are still debating the issues governing school meals.
