School Food Standards: The big changes to school dinners coming to Rotherham

School dinners in Rotherham are set to become healthier under new government guidelines - even though a previous health bid resulted in parents smuggling in fast food to a school in the borough.

The new guidelines say that fried foods and chocolate will no longer be served.

The changes have been announced by the Department for Education and follow the news that all children in England whose families receive Universal Credit can access free school meals.

The changes focus on improving the nutritional quality of meals by increasing the amount of fruit, vegetables and fibre, and reducing foods high in fat, salt and sugar.

Chef Jamie Oliver, backs the plans, and said: “Back 20+ years ago when I started School Dinners I could not believe that we had standards for dog food but not what we serve our children at school.

“And I’ve never stopped banging that drum. Because it’s massive - 190 days of the year 70% of our kids’ nutrition is in the hands of their school. So, it’s got to be great. It’s got to fill them up with all the good stuff they need to learn and grow.”

The chef has a history of campaigning in South Yorkshire, when he set up the ‘Ministry of Food’ centre in All Saints Square, Rotherham, offering cooking courses to the community.

But back in 2006, parents protested against his healthy school dinners campaign, which ran nationally, famously passing fast food through railings at Rawmarsh Community School.

Two years later, in 2008, he set up the ‘Ministry of Food’ campaign, which was a TV documentary series designed to teach cooking skills and promote fresh and healthy meals.

Adding support for the new plans, he said: “It’s brilliant to see new School Food Standards based on the latest science, to make sure the food children get at school is actually supporting their health and helping them thrive.

“And, those standards won’t just live on paper, but have proper monitoring to make sure they’re followed, so we know where we need to deploy care, love and support. Sure, there’s always more to do, but after 25 years of campaigning, today is a brilliant day.”

The new standards will apply to all food served in both primary and secondary schools, including both breakfast and lunch.

Under the new guidelines, schools must offer one or more portions of starchy food every day, bread with no added fat or oil, one or more portions of vegetables or salad as an accompaniment every day, and provide one or more portions of fruit every day.

The guidelines also offer restrictions on salt and sugary foods, as well as not offering snacks except nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit with no added salt, sugar or fat.

The guidelines also say that “water should be the default” for all children, but other drinks permitted include plain water, lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk, fruit or vegetable juice, tea, coffee and hot chocolate.

The new guidelines are expected to come into force from September 2027.