Category: news

Even touching and smelling those brown paper lunch bags makes me salivate for years gone by when it would be a ‘treat’ (or used as a bribe for my mum really) to get a canteen lunch on Friday. Usually it would have been a toasted cheese sandwich or a pie, chocolate milk and a pack of popcorn. While some canteens in NSW have taken their own initiative and sell healthy fresh food, looking at what’s on offer at most Canteens these days it is no wonder we have an obesity crisis with our kids! Hot dogs, chicken nuggets, chicken coujons (whatever they are??) frozen chicken patty burgers, frozen cubes of roast chicken on rolls, flavoured water, Sumo biscuits (cheaper copy version of Oreo biscuits imported from india) and frozen tuna rolls imported from japan thawed in the microwave… and while there should be ‘treats’ in the canteen, we could be making them a lot healthier and fresher.

But change is coming. The NSW Government is in planning stages to completely scrap the outdated “Fresh Tastes Canteen Guidelines” and the confusing and contradictory ‘Green, Amber and Red’ food rating guide. They will be looking to introduce a “Healthy Star Rating” system that includes measuring not only the fat and sodium content of products but the SUGAR content as well.

According to a spokesperson from the NSW Department of Health, the strategy “has been revised based on extensive evidence and to align with the latest Australian Dietary Guidelines” and is a “joint initiative led by the Department of Education and supported by the NSW Ministry of Health”. So as I understand it, canteen operators can check the packaging for a health star rating out of five and be able to place them in either the ‘everyday’ or ‘occasional’ category.

The higher the rating, the healthier. They can also check if there is a healthier option available on the website www.foodswitch.com.au by comparing products. The problem is that most of the products I checked that are in my children’s canteen currently (and most canteens) are not among the 20,000 listed. So does that mean they can still be sold? How are they going to police that canteens are doing the right thing? What will be the minimum star rating for an ‘Everyday’ product? Will there be a policy that will dictate a minimum amount of fresh, locally sourced food to be available as well? After speaking to the Department of Health, it seems they haven’t worked this out yet either. The implementation should be happening early thist year, and really it couldn’t come quick enough.

The most recent laughable moment I had lately was when I was visiting another primary school to attend a spelling Bee competition my son was in. They were having treat day as it was end of term. According to the current NSW Department of Education you are allowed these ‘Red’ coded items once a term on ‘treat day’.

Their special treat day food was lollies. But looking at the everyday menu they had, EVERYDAY was a treat day. The menu was selling TNT ice blocks which not only contain hideous chemicals (one that Aldi has banned from its products) but has more sugar (10.5g) than a fun size Kit Kat (7g).

Aside from the sugar, they have high amounts of unnecessary additives such as colour.

“[These additives] are most often found in foods like cordials, lollies, cakes and soft drinks, which we are recommended to have only as an occasional treat anyway, it is easy enough to avoid colour additives by only eating these foods rarely, if it all,” says David Oakenfull from Choice magazine.

“In light of the UK food regulator’s decision to push for industry action to remove some of these colours altogether, we’d like to see FSANZ review the situation in Australia.” WOW!

Considering these canteen items contain the same amount of sugar as confectionary AND have unnecessary additives why aren’t they classified as “red” food?

Not only are school kids eating “regular” items that may as well be Kit Kats no one is monitoring how many they consume in a day.  From my experience working in the school canteen, most kids never eat just one!

Stephen Guilford who is an Australian Food Technology Consultant and is the Directer of ‘Smart Food Consulting’ in Victoria has a degree in (Chemistry), PhD (Organic Chemistry) and has 33 years in the food industry. He is a member of the AIFTST and the American Society for Nutrition. In a report he wrote last year, he narrowed the problem with school canteens with two questions, “Whether children and adults are able to ensure a balanced nutritious diet and adequate exercise when unhealthy foods are available? and Whether schools are an appropriate place for the sale of high sugar, low nutritious food and drink?” he also states that “The current obesity and diabetes epidemic would suggest to me that there is a lack of education and example with regard to healthy eating, an overabundance of unhealthy food and lack of exercise across the community.”

Currently, the Department of Education canteen guidelines titled “Fresh Tastes”, which school canteen operators use as their guidelines when deciding what foods to order for sale, only sets a limit for saturated fats and the amount of Sodium in canteen products, NOT SUGAR or additives. (Pg. 13 of the Fresh Tastes at School canteen guide). The biggest problem is that no one really MONITORS school canteens. Principals are supposed to do a review every two years but no one from the Department of Education is policing it. Also, there is the argument that it is actually the parents responsibility to educate their own children in making healthy food choices and developing healthy eating habits, not the school canteen operators.

However, Dr Stephen Guillford argues this by saying in his report “In a recent study Am J Clin Nutr doi: 10.3945/ajcn. 115.128454, Sarah Anderson et al “found no evidence that US preschool-aged children who frequently consumed fruit, vegetables, and milk were any less likely than children who infrequently consumed these aspects of a healthy diet, to have a high consumption of SSBs (sugar sweetened beverages), fast food, sweets, and salty snacks.” So basically even if your children eat healthy at home they will still buy the soft drinks, salty snacks, processed and sugar laden foods given the opportunity.

Primary schools, being an educational facility plus already having healthy eating information in the PDHPE curriculum absolutely do have a responsibility to then NOT serve sugar/chemical laced junk food in the canteen. We also need to remember that not all kids come from families that have healthy eating habits and so these kids can have an equal chance at a healthy lifestyle, it is their duty of care for the school canteen to provide this.

What about cost? Of course we don’t want our canteens eating up fundraising money to stay afloat. However, quite a few canteens are loosing money under the current Fresh Tastes guidelines from only serving the cheaper quality food as general society are becoming gradually, more educated in healthy fresh eating and our canteens aren’t matching this demand so many parents won’t buy hardly any canteen lunches.

Plus, healthy food is not more expensive than junk food, Jamie Oliver is not one to fall for that argument. He states in an interview with webmd “I’ve spent time in Italy and seen the poorest of people eating the most delicious — but really inexpensive — food because they know how to use ingredients. I’ve been to South Africa and seen women in shantytowns preparing meals for school kids that cost a few cents but had huge nutritional value. How much are a few vegetables? How much is a bag of dried [whole-wheat] pasta? I could easily feed a family of four for under $10 — which is less than any junk food.” Parents also need to realise that just because it is a school canteen, food in general not going to be cheaper. Food costs what it costs, some parents still have this expectation that it should be cheaper.

The implementation of the new Heath Star Rating guideline should be happening early this year and I really hope it will be able to maintain consistency and monitor exactly what is being sold over the counter… the future health and well being of our children are depending on it.