2 reports, 23 standards, 35 recommendations and a lot of work!

September 2005

By Luci daniels, FDH Dietician consultant

2005 will go down as an important year for school caterers. Publication earlier in the year of the Caroline Walker Trust’s [CWT]‘Eating Well at School – nutritional and practical guidelines’ was followed in October by the DfES report ‘Turning The Tables’. This DfES report by the School Meals Review Panel [SMRP] ‘transforming school food’ considers in depth the development and implementation of nutritional standards for school lunches. The consultation period on the report ended 31 st December 2005. Some changes to the following standards may arise as a result of the consultation.

‘Turning the Tables’ is a good report. It clearly states that the 2001 school meal standards are not sufficient to ensure effective provision of healthy school meals. The government is committed to improving the health of our schoolchildren by encouraging healthier food choices and increasing physical activity to reduce the incidence of diet related disease in later life, notably obesity and diabetes.

The SMRP report reviews the history of school meal standards and clearly shows that Government policy in the 1980’s and 1990’s put economy above the quality of food provision. The abolition of nutritional standards and removal of the obligation of LEA’s to ‘provide a school meal suitable in all respects as a main meal of the day’ led to the present situation. As a result 13% of our schools now have no kitchen facilities, the use of ‘budget’ convenience foods had increased substantially and concern has risen about the poor nutritional intake of many schoolchildren. School caterers are not blamed for this situation. The time has arrived for school meals to be looked at as part of a public health strategy to improve the health of the nation, and it is hoped sufficient funding will follow to allow implementation of these recommendations.

School meals should be looked at as a ‘safety net’, controlling the range of choice of food by limiting the use of foods with a low nutritional value. Better provision will hopefully help improve the nutritional intake of children, many having low intakes of Vitamin A, riboflavin, iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium and high intakes of saturated fat, salt and sugar.

The SMRP makes 35 recommendations covering:

  • The standards – food and drink as well as nutrient based
  • Delivering change
  • Getting started
  • Financial investment
  • Monitoring and Evaluation

There is a phased programme for change:

September 2006 – schools should meet food standards by removing all drinks, confectionery and pre-packaged savoury snacks which do not meet the standards. This applies to tuck shops, vending and similar food services across the school day.

Schools should not serve reformed/reconstituted foods made from ‘meat slurry’ and should not provide processed foods that do not meet the Food Standards

Agency’s voluntary target nutrient specifications.

Lunches will need to meet the standards for fruit and vegetables, oily fish, deep fried products, bread and water.

September 2008 – nutrient standards met fully by all Primary Schools

September 2009 - nutrient standards met fully by all Secondary Schools

As nutrient requirements vary with age and gender the report recommends that the specific nutrient figures for different age ranges are as shown in the CWT 2005 report ‘Eating Well at School’.

Implications Include:

  • Review and possibly change recipes.
  • Review cooking practices.
  • Increased food costs.
  • Increased staff costs – cooking time, training etc.
  • Increased use of fresh and locally produced unprocessed foods.
  • Involvement of local authority, school governors and heads in prioritizing food.
  • Change in food procurement.
  • Need to monitor and evaluate change.

It is hoped that the DfES will take the lead on developing and testing further tools and guidance. A Schools Trust has been set up to support and advise schools and parents in improving the standard of school meals.

Monitoring and Evaluation

There will be a need for both self-monitoring and external monitoring. Self-monitoring could involve the use of analytical software like Saffron to provide regular data on consumption expressed in terms of the nutrient targets. Ofsted will externally monitor. Pilot inspections carried out in November 2005 will hopefully help provide the tools and checklists to support these inspections. The SMRP also recommends that at regular intervals [ possibly every 4 years] a nationwide evaluation of school food provision should be carried out, paying particular attention to provision for children who are nutritionally at risk.

Lots to do – the hard work has already began – but it will hopefully be worthwhile and bring about changes needed to improve public health.

Good Luck! – Luci Daniels

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