Today, the government has published revised school food standards. Alongside the expansion of free school meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit, the new standards will improve the food offered to millions of children every day at school.
What do the revised school food standards include?
The main changes include:
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More fruit and vegetables, including a requirement for vegetables to be served with, or included in, all main meals.
- More fibre and wholegrains, including stronger standards for bread and requirements to increase the use of whole wheat pasta.
- New breakfast standards, helping ensure children have access to healthier breakfasts with less sugar and more nutritious options.
- More beans, lentils and pulses, giving children access to a wider range of healthy, fibre-rich protein sources.
- Stronger restrictions on foods high in fat, sugar and salt, including deep-fried foods, processed meat and sugary products.
- Healthier drinks standards, including the removal of fruit juice from the permitted drinks list.
- Improved accountability, with schools expected to publish their school food policies and menus online and appoint a governor with responsibility for school food.
The revised school food standards include the biggest changes to school food in more than a decade. We're particularly pleased to see the government adopt a number of recommendations that School Food Matters called for during the consultation.
We're delighted to see the government adopt stronger fibre requirements for bread, introduce a new compliance framework for school food, and create a national monitoring system to help ensure the standards are being met.
Stephanie Slater MBE, Founder and Chief Executive at School Food Matters, says:
"This is a landmark moment for school food and children's health. For more than a decade, schools have been working with standards that no longer reflected the latest nutritional evidence. We’re delighted to see these long-overdue changes finally become a reality.
We're in schools every day and see the difference that great food can make to children's health, wellbeing and learning. The introduction of stronger standards, alongside new measures to improve accountability and monitoring, is an important step towards ensuring every child can benefit from nutritious, high-quality school food, no matter where they live.
After years of campaigning for better school food, today is a moment to celebrate. The task now is to make sure these changes are delivered well, so every child can enjoy the benefits of great school food every day."
Stronger standards need effective implementation
Updating the standards is only part of the picture. For many years there has been no consistent national system for monitoring whether schools are meeting the mandatory school food standards. As a result, the quality of school food can vary significantly between schools.
One of the most welcome aspects of today’s announcement is the commitment to stronger monitoring and accountability. The introduction of a new national compliance framework, alongside a role for Ofsted, and a national monitoring system being developed with the Food Standards Agency, represents a major milestone towards ensuring children benefit from the standards in practice, not just on paper.
School leaders themselves recognise the importance of effective monitoring. Polling we commissioned on behalf of the School Food Review found that 68% of school leaders believe school food standards would be more effective if compliance was independently checked.
Supporting schools to deliver
Monitoring should not be about catching schools out. Done well, it can help identify where support is needed, recognise good practice and ensure every child benefits from nutritious, high-quality food at school.
Schools will need practical support as they prepare for the new standards, including access to guidance, training, resources and examples of good practice.
What happens next?
While there are areas where we would like to see further progress, particularly around food education and whole school approaches to food, we warmly welcome today's announcement as a significant step forward for children's health and the future of school food.
Implementation will be key. The revised standards will only achieve their full potential if schools, caterers and government work together to ensure they are delivered consistently across the country, backed by effective monitoring, practical support and sufficient funding.
Food education must also be part of the picture. We are pleased to see food education and whole school approaches reflected in the implementation guidance. Evidence from our Nourish programme shows that children are more willing to try new tastes and flavours when they have opportunities to learn about food, preparing and sharing a variety of dishes. Combining improved food provision with food education, pupil engagement and a whole school approach to food will help ensure these reforms lead not only to more nutritious school meals, but also positive lifelong relationship with food.
To demonstrate that tasty, nutritious food is possible in every school, we’ve joined forces with Bite Back, Chefs in Schools, Jamie Oliver Group and The Food Foundation to form the School Food Project. The project will support schools to deliver high-quality food and meaningful food education, in line with the updated school food standards. Schools can sign up to the School Food Project Hub to access free learning tools, resources, events and training.
