Scotland consults on healthier school food proposals

The Scottish government is calling for views on proposals to further reduce sugar and other measures to make school meals, drinks and snacks healthier.

This is following a review by health, nutrition and education experts.

The proposals include increasing access to fresh fruit and vegetables, with a minimum of two portions of veg and a portion of fruit to be offered as part of a school lunch.

The recommendations also included introducing lower sugar limits, for example for foods such as breakfast cereal and yoghurts, reducing how often sweetened and baked goods are available, and no longer permitting fruit juice and smoothies in schools.

A new regulation for red meat have also been included for the first time, which specifies, for the first time, how much of a child’s weekly intake should be high-quality produce and limits the amount of processed meat.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “More than 360,000 meals are dished up in Scottish schools every day, setting children and young people up for their lessons and – through learning about healthy habits – for life.

“While our internationally acclaimed nutritional standards are already very high, we want to go further to promote healthy, high quality food and drink and help tackle childhood obesity.

“The proposals we are putting forward are based on the latest scientific and expert advice, as well as the views of local authorities, schools and catering staff. I urge everyone with an interest in school food to have their say.”

In 2017, the Scottish Government established a technical working group with representation from NHS Health Scotland, Education Scotland, Food Standards Scotland. They published a report and final recommendations, which were accepted by the Scottish Government.