Governments School Food Standards were introduced for England in September 2006 following many years of campaigning for their improvement, media campaigns instigated by Chef Jamie Oliver, and research reviews into the eating habits of children at school which highlighted that children were not choosing foods that were likely to contribute to a healthy diet and that school meals did not meet their nutritional needs.
In order to maximise the health of children, it is important to ensure that every child is given the opportunity to consume a high quality, nutrient rich diet that will help to maximise their life long health. In order to achieve this, children need to be offered nutrient dense food at every eating occasion, including snacks. This fundamental principle underpins the Government’s School Food Standards in relation to snacking. These standards effectively remove all vendible, ambient convenience snacks from school, other than certain healthy snacks that include dried fruit, nuts and seeds (with no added fat, sugar or salt), due to the ban on confectionary and savoury snacks.
These regulations have highlighted concerns and issues about the potential increase in allergens in school, which may in turn increase children’s exposure to allergens, including nuts and seeds, and may potentially increase the risk of cross contamination.
Snack vending machines may be removed from some schools as a consequence, leading to the possible increase in availability of convenience snacks over the counter in school canteens and from other outlets within school, such as tuck shops/‘snack shacks’. To achieve improvements in the nutritional adequacy of school food it is recommended and anticipated that there will be an increase in availability of fresh food vending, e.g. sandwiches, salads, yoghurts and milk.
There is a need to consider the implications of the anticipated changes in school catering practices, as regards availability of all 12 major allergens, many of which could be utilised as ingredients for fresh food vending.
Vending offers the potential to positively manage the availability of some of the 12 major allergens in a controlled environment, whether through ambient or refrigerated, fresh food vending machines. It is hoped that this may help to minimise the risks of allergic reactions caused as a consequence of the increased availability of such foods within schools.
Many of the 12 major food allergens, such as milk, eggs, nuts and peanuts can make a very valuable contribution to a child’s diet. Whilst not underestimating the potential risks associated with food allergens for some individuals, there is a need to provide every opportunity for all children to achieve a nutritious diet especially whilst at school. Banning economical and convenient snack foods such as nuts, peanuts and seeds would not support this policy objective. Having a robust risk management approach, however, including vending in schools will support it. That is why this best practice guidance is needed. It makes the case for “allergy-aware” vending practices in schools.
The Health Education Trusts view is that this can be seen as an opportunity in secondary schools for food-allergic children (and those without allergies) to be educated on the myths, facts and seriousness of allergies and to gain a better awareness of allergies, and learn avoidance strategies, if they move in an environment where allergens may turn up unexpectedly. If they are trained to be vigilant, their growing awareness may pay dividends one day when, for example, a friend offers them a biscuit at a party. If they are used to a nut-free environment, they may take the biscuit without thinking.
This is an area that HET is looking into with great depth, and will address in this guidance how best to deal with the concerns, and how best schools can use vending to manage the risk.
HET is currently consulting widely with other key bodies, and the final draft guidance will be freely available on the website early in the New Year. We would like schools to register their interest in ‘trialling’ this draft guidance and to provide feedback. Please click here to register your interest.
References:
The Education (Nutritional Standards and Requirements for School Food) (England) Regulations 2007.
