School Food Trust Nutrient Standards
The Education (Nutritional Standard and Requirements for School Food) (England) Regulations 2007 requires school food to meet exacting standards and in particular requires the school lunch to positively contribute to a young person’s nutritional requirement.
A school lunch must provide the following as an average over the menu cycle:
Energy or Nutrient and amount of measurement |
Min or Max |
Primary Schools: Current |
Secondary Schools: From September 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Energy in kilocalories (kilojoules) |
530 (2215) |
646 (2700) |
|
|
Fat (grams) |
Max |
20.6 |
25.1 |
|
Saturated fat (grams) |
Max |
6.5 |
7.9 |
|
Non-milk extrinsic sugars (grams) |
Max |
15.5 |
18.9 |
|
Sodium (milligrams) |
Max |
499 |
714 |
|
Total carbohydrate (grams) |
Min |
70.6 |
86.1 |
|
Fibre (grams) |
Min |
4.2 |
5.2 |
|
Protein (grams) |
Min |
7.5 |
13.3 |
|
Iron (milligrams) |
Min |
3 |
5.2 |
|
Zinc (milligrams) |
Min |
2.5 |
3.3 |
|
Calcium (milligrams) |
Min |
193 |
350 |
|
Vitamin A (micrograms) |
Min |
175 |
245 |
|
Vitamin C (milligrams) |
Min |
10.5 |
14 |
|
Folate (micrograms) |
Min |
53 |
70 |
The above is applicable to primary schools from September 2008 and secondary schools from September 2009.
These nutritional requirements are in addition to the food based requirements for school lunches which are:
Not less than two portions each day from fruit and vegetable
Oily fish must be provided at least once every 3 weeks
Meat products have been subdivided and can only appear on the menu once a fortnight. Divisions are burger, sausage, individual pie, shaped and coated.
Food cooked in fat or oil is restricted to no more than 3 days a week
Deep fried food, including cooked in manufacture, is restricted to twice a week.
Starchy food i.e. pasta, rice, potatoes must be available daily
Only drinks permitted are water, milk (skimmed or semi skimmed), pure fruit juice, yoghurt or milk drinks.
No table salt is permitted.
No confectionery, chocolate or chocolate-coated products (excluding the use of cocoa powder) can be available.
Bread must be available as an additional item, daily.
The menu is run on a 3 week cycle, and the nutrient requirements are based on an average school lunch over the 3 weeks.