London Borough of Newham - Gears up with Saffron Nutrition

August 2007

               

 
London Borough of Newham Catering and Cleaning Services has invested in a computerised nutritional analysis system to ensure that the borough’s school meals will meet the next stage of the Government’s nutritional standards.
 
The nutrient standards, which set 14 targets that meals must meet over a five-day period, are due to come into force in Primary Schools in September 2008 and a year later in Secondary Schools.
 
To ensure they are meeting the targets well in advance, Newham Catering Services will be using the Saffron Nutrition analysis system from this September to plan menus that satisfy the stringent requirements.  
 
The department is also working in partnership with the School Food Trust to look at how Secondary School meal providers will fare when it comes to planning menus that meet the nutrient standards. Saffron Nutrition will play an integral role in the project by providing the analysis and benchmarking of menus.
 
The nutritional analysis programme has been adapted by provider Fretwell-Downing Hospitality to coordinate with the Borough’s ‘Traffic Light’ system that colour codes the school meals so that children can make more informed, healthier choices.
 
Saffron Nutrition will not only report on the levels of the 14 nutrients, but also flag up clearly whether a certain dish meets the red, amber or green traffic light for specific parameters such as fat, sugar or salt content.
 
Anne Ledgley, Area Manager for Secondary Schools Catering, for Newham Catering Services comments: “We elected to use Saffron Nutrition as it was best suited to the work we had to carry out. We have already attained high standards for our school meals, but to meet the nutrient standards we needed to scrutinise the content of each dish to such an exacting level that it made sense to invest in a computerised system.
 
“The system will really come into its own when we look at the Secondary school menus as they are much more complex than the Primary school choices and will involve an extremely high degree of analysis.”
 
Each day 15,000 meals are prepared, cooked and served to Primary pupils and 5,000 Secondary students within the London Borough of Newham.
 

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