New school food standards launched
16 Jun 2014
A new set of school food standards (along with accompanying guidance for schools and their cooks and caterers) was launched by the Education Secretary Michael Gove today.
Welcomed by the Save Our Standards Campaign, and by Jamie Oliver, the new standards are designed to make it easier for school cooks to create imaginative, flexible and nutritious menus. They will be mandatory in all maintained schools, and new academies and free schools.
>>>Go to Department for Education press release
>>>View the school food standards and accompanying guidance
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Read supportive statements from:
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education
Henry Dimbleby, co-author of the School Food Plan, chair of the Standards Panel
Stephanie Wood, Save Our School Food Standards campaign
Jamie Oliver, chef and early campaigner for school food standards
Jeanette Orrey MBE, Food For Life Partnership policy advisor, Standards Panel member
Ashley Adamson, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Newcastle University, Standards Panel member
Tony Mulgrew, BBC Cook of the Year, school chef at Ravenscliffe High School, Standards Panel member
Simon Barber, headteacher at Carshalton Boys Sports College, Standards Panel Member
Annabel Karmel MBE, leading children’s food expert and No.1 parenting author
Amy Roberts, Senior Nutritionist for Chartwells, part of Compass Group UK & Ireland:
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Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, said:
“These new food standards will ensure all children are able to eat healthy, nutritious meals at school.
We now have a clear and concise set of food standards which are easier for cooks to follow and less expensive to enforce. Crucially we have achieved this without any compromise on quality or nutrition.
There has been a great deal of progress in providing healthy school meals in recent years and these new standards will help deliver further improvements.”
Henry Dimbleby, co-author with John Vincent of The School Food Plan, said:
“The previous standards did a lot of good in removing the worst foods from children’s diets. But when we were writing the School Food plan we met lots of wonderful cooks who felt restricted by them.
There was a very talented Asian cook, for example, who was exasperated at having to follow the council’s three week menu plan of shepherd’s pie and fish and chips, when her pupils – most of whom were also Asian – would have much preferred naan bread and a curry.
Other cooks complained that having to plan menus so far in advance meant they couldn’t make the most of cheap, high quality, seasonal produce. These standards will preserve the nutritional gains that have already been made in school food, while allowing greater flexibility.”
Susan Jebb, Professor of Diet and Population Health, University of Oxford said:
“We know that children are continuing to eat too much saturated fat, sugar and salt. It is vital that the food children are offered in schools is nutritious and helps them to learn about the basics of a healthy diet.
The pilots we ran were very encouraging and clearly enabled cooks to develop nutritionally balanced menus. We saw a real boost in the variety of vegetables offered, helping to increase intakes of fibre and essential nutrients.
The new standards and supporting guidance include clear information on appropriate portion sizes to help achieve similar results and promote good practice across all schools.”
Stephanie Wood from the Save Our School Food Standards campaign said:
“We welcome this clear and concise set of standards, together with the guidance notes, to help schools and caterers deliver nutritious and delicious school meals. We believe that mandatory standards are vital to ensure that school meals provide children with the energy and nutrition. We will continue to work with the School Food Plan and others to champion standards across all schools, including those academies where legislation is currently not in place.”
Jamie Oliver, an early campaigner for school food standards, said:
“Anything which makes it easier for school cooks to get tastier, nutritious food on the plate at school lunch time has to be welcomed and the new School Food Standards guide does that. There’s also built-in flexibility which is massively important. School cooks are on the frontline in the fight against diet-related disease in my view so it’s vital that they get support. For me, these mandatory minimum standards are so important if we’re going to truly protect the next generation.”
Jeanette Orrey MBE, Food For Life Partnership policy adviser, said:
“As a former dinner lady, I know how much it helps that these new school food standards – which all schools, including academies, will be called on to meet – have been made simpler so that Cooks have some room to be creative in coming up with nutritious menus that students will enjoy. As co-founder of the Food for Life Partnership, I am also delighted that the clear overarching principle is that all school meals, wherever possible, should be prepared in the school’s own kitchen from fresh, locally sourced ingredients.”
Ashley Adamson, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Newcastle University, said:
“The new school food standards are just one part of the School Food Plan and are the result of extensive deliberations, consultation and testing. The standards offer all those involved in the delivery of school food an exciting opportunity to build on the excellent progress made in school food so far and make sure all our children have what they deserve, that is, the best possible food of the highest quality and nutritional value.”
Tony Mulgrew, BBC Cook of the Year and school chef at Ravenscliffe High School
“This is a great opportunity for all school chefs to showcase their skills – for example, writing their own menus for their students and schools, and having the flexibility to use only the best quality and local produce when designing menus.”
Simon Barber, headteacher at Carshalton Boys Sports College, said:
“Healthy, tasty food provides an essential foundation for good behaviour, and so better learning, across the school community. I have seen this first hand with the boys in my own school. For many of them, school lunch is their main meal of the day, making it all the more important than it is a healthy meal. By following the national school food standards, I can be confident that all my students are eating well in school – and so can their parents. I would urge every academy and free school to sign up to the school food standards.”
Annabel Karmel MBE, leading children’s food expert and No.1 parenting author, said:
“With almost 20% of children deemed obese by the time they leave primary school at age 11, healthy eating must become commonplace in the daily school routine. But the food has to be tasty too, and the new School Food Standards provides more flexibility to enable school cooks to use their creativity to prepare healthy, delicious meals using seasonal fresh produce. The nutritional guidelines are far easier for schools to understand and follow, without being restricted by stringent computer program analysis.
As part of the Small Schools Taskforce, a national initiative which aims to ensure that all small schools have the right menus and kitchen equipment to be able to offer a viable service, I’ve witnessed the huge benefits that a hot, healthy meal can have on classroom performance. I’ve used my 25 years of experience in feeding children to help design healthy menus that taste great – and that’s been the challenge up until now, particularly in small schools that have limited kitchen facilities. Children are more adventurous than they are often given credit for – but it boils down to quality, taste and presentation; and even the fussiest of eaters are already enjoying my Hidden Vegetable Bolognese and Chicken Fajitas.”
Amy Roberts, Senior Nutritionist for Chartwells, part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, said:
“We’ve been closely involved in the pilot phase of these standards and the feedback received has been really positive. The new standards will build on the work achieved under the existing school food standards and should enable our teams to devote more time to creating exciting and nutritious menus that will inspire children’s eating habits in the future.
“Through our Eat, Learn, Live programme, we remain committed to providing a wide variety of tasty and nutritious meals, as well as educating young people about how to lead a healthy lifestyle.”