New health ratings for school tuckshop food
Under a tough regimen to be launched early next year, all foods sold in school canteens and “health facilities” will carry a new Healthy Star Rating
NSW
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THE failed “traffic light” system that rules what foods school tuckshops can sell to kids will be scrapped in a major new assault on child obesity to be unveiled by the state government.
The mandatory guidelines in force for more than a decade — green (always allowed), amber (select carefully) and red (not recommended) — have collapsed as bans on sugar-sweetened drinks and fat-laden offerings are ignored.
Under a tough regimen to be launched early next year, all foods sold in school canteens and “health facilities” will carry a new Healthy Star Rating, soft drinks and caffeinated drinks will be banned and portion sizes strictly controlled. Unhealthy foods high in fat and sugar will be hidden from view and make up a much smaller proportion of the overall menu. Students will be encouraged to drink water instead of sugary beverages.
The Saturday Telegraph has learned the new system will be more heavily weighted towards freshly prepared foods amid evidence that Australian children are not consuming enough vegetables, fruit and milk.
Under proposed new food and drink criteria, the discredited traffic light system — in place since 2005 — will be replaced by just two categories: “everyday” and “occasional”.
From term one next year, 75 per cent of the food on school canteen menus will have to be everyday food with portion limits for flavoured milk, juices and hot meals.
It comes as the Standing Committee on Social Issues, which was investigating childhood obesity, raised concerns tuckshops are not monitored for compliance. The committee recommended auditing and compliance be part of the new strategy or it’s destined to fail like the traffic light system.
The Healthy Kids Association warned the committee’s inquiry “the new strategy will suffer the same impact should it not address the issue of monitoring and compliance for both good practice as well as poor”.
A Department of Education spokesman yesterday would not say how the new system would be monitored for compliance, saying details were still being finalised.
Under the new scheme occasional foods will not be given a prominent place at the point of sale, while canteen operators will be urged to “display, favourably price, promote and advertise” everyday foods and drinks, such as those enjoyed by St Michael’s students Sophie and Antonio (below).
Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton, who helped develop the school canteen guide, has described some of the food on sale as “junk” and criticised the lack of enforcement of healthy guidelines. Canteens turn over up to $70,000 a year in public schools but there are no fines for those that continue to serve unhealthy food.
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Originally published as New health ratings for school tuckshop food
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