Three-quarters of secondary schools in England are breaking the rules on food offered to pupils by serving chips, burgers and hash browns too often – and sweets and crisps at breakfast time, according to a report.
“Shocking” breaches of school food standards have been exposed on Monday, in a new analysis of the food provided at almost 400 state secondaries undertaken by Bite Back, a food charity set up by the chef Jamie Oliver.
D’Arcy Williams, Bite Back’s chief executive, said the picture of schools’ widespread noncompliance with the government-set standards that emerged from its analysis was alarming.
Three out of four menus it analysed at 391 state secondary schools in England contained at least one breach of the standards. Most involved schools offering unhealthy foods more often than is allowed.
At 206 schools (53%), products high in fat, sugar or salt that are meant to be banned altogether – such as crisps, Oreos, Mini Cheddars, chocolate bars and pastries – were being offered to pupils to buy as snacks, including at breakfast time and at lunchtime. Schools are allowed to sell only nuts, seeds, plain vegetables and plain fruit as snacks.
The research also found that:
There were 224 schools (57%) providing meat products such as burgers, nuggets, sausages and goujons more often than the twice a week permitted by the standards.
Hash browns, which as a fried starchy food should be a menu option only twice a week, were being offered more often than that at 144 schools (37%).
There were 123 schools (31%) using chocolate in solid form, such as chocolate chips or chocolate coating, as an ingredient in dessert or bakes, despite it being banned.
“These findings are very alarming and expose a system that is fundamentally failing our children,” said Williams.
“It is shocking to find crisps and chocolate being pushed at breakfast time or processed meats like sausage rolls and bacon baps being served far more frequently than the rules allow.
“Young people have been telling us for years that their school food is ‘beige, bland and boring’ and now we have more evidence that they are being surrounded by unhealthy food throughout the school day.
“Schools should be a sanctuary for health and learning, yet the current postcode lottery of food quality is undermining that mission.”
But in other findings that parents may find reassuring, only eight schools (2%) were flouting the ban on selling confectionery such as KitKats, Haribo sweets and Maltesers as standalone items. And even fewer – just three schools (1%) – were selling banned sugary drinks such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta and Sprite.
Campaigners for healthier food voiced concern at the findings. Katharine Jenner, the executive director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “Schools should be one of the places where we can be confident children are being given nutritious food. Yet this research suggests too many are still being routinely exposed to processed meat, fried foods, pastries and confectionery beyond what the standards allow.
“Children are already growing up surrounded by unhealthy food across the wider food system, from what is marketed to them to what is promoted in shops. If we can’t even get the food environment right in schools, where children spend such a large part of their lives, then we have a serious problem.”
Ministers are preparing to unveil an overhaul of the school food standards, which child health and anti-obesity organisations have been seeking for years.
At the start of the new academic year in England next month, there will be a major expansion of access to free school meals instigated by the Labour government. From now on, all pupils from a household where someone is receiving universal credit will qualify in England.
The Department for Education acknowledged that schools did flout the standards. A spokesperson said: “We want every child to be healthy, happy and ready to learn, and nutritious food plays a vital role in helping them achieve that.
“That’s why we are delivering the most ambitious overhaul of school food in a generation, making sure children have access to healthy, balanced meals, get more of their five a day and are protected from the harms of eating too much ultra-processed food.
“We know not every school is following these standards, which is exactly why we will introduce a strengthened enforcement regime, alongside requiring every school to publish their food policy and menus online to improve transparency for parents.”
