Oxford School Brings In Hi-tech Help To Lead The Way On School Meals

September 2006

 
Summer Fields School in Oxford has enlisted hi-tech help to ensure the food it serves to its pupils is meeting the strictest of the Government’s standards on school meals.

As a private school, Summer Fields is not required to meet the school meal standards, the second level of which – the more stringent nutrient standards – come into force from September 2008.

However this hasn’t stopped the Oxford school from aiming for the highest grade with the aid of a web-based nutritional analysis system, Saffron Nutrition, which is specifically designed to help schools provide healthy balanced meals.

Speaking at the start of National School Meals Week (11 th-15 th September), Domestic Bursar, Ann Hannah explains: “We wanted to be one of the schools leading the way in the provision of meals that are meeting the highest standards, particularly as this is such an important issue for parents.”

While Summer Fields has already made great strides in improving the meals it provides to the 250 boys aged 8-13, the school enlisted the analysis service to pinpoint exactly any areas where the menus needed adjusting to ensure they provide the correct proportion of nutrients that pupils require.

Ann comments: “Because we are a boarding school, we are analysing all of our meals, not just lunches, which amounts to 2,240 servings each week. We already knew we could meet the food-based standards that come in this September, especially as our pupils have at least eight portions of fruit and vegetables each day.

“With the analysis programme , we have been able to go a step further by ensuring that our menus meet the stipulated levels of the 14 key nutrients such as carbohydrate, fat, sodium (salt) as well as minerals and vitamins.

“Importantly, the service also flags up to our catering staff when a recipe or food product contains an allergy-triggering ingredient such as gluten or nuts, which is a great reassurance.”
 
 

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