Nutritional standards for school lunches and other food
In September 2005 the Government received recommendations from the School Meals Review Panel (SMRP) on school lunches and on a number of wider issues concerning food in schools. In response to that report Turning the Tables the newly-established School Food Trust (SFT) was commissioned to advise Ministers on standards for food in school other than lunch. The DfE consulted widely on the recommendations of the SMRP and on a more limited basis on the advice of the SFT. Reports on the responses to each of those consultations are available via the link below. The Government considered responses to those consultations and have taken into account the many representations the Department has received on these issues from a range of stakeholders. The Secretary of State for Education and Skills has arrived at final decisions on the standards. These standards will apply to school lunches and other food provided in all local authority maintained schools in England. The report sets out, at Annexes A to C, what those standards will be and, at Annex D, the Government s response to the other recommendations made by the SMRP about school food. For the full report please click on the link below the link below. The Government endorses the recommendations of the SMRP on the nutritional standards that should apply to school lunches with some minor amendments. This means that there will be two sets of standards for school lunches: - Food-based, which will define the types of food that children and young people should be offered in a school lunch and their frequency by September 2006.
- Nutrient-based which will set out the proportion of nutrients that children and young people should receive from a school lunch by September 2008 for Primary and September 2009 for Secondary Schools.
LBC Catering Services has introduced the new food and nutrient based standards into school menus since September 2006. |
