Food 'n' Drink – Food and Drink news |

A draconian approach to healthy eating within the secondary schools of Scotland may be actually teaching pupils to eat junk food, according to claims.

Since national policies were introduced that determine the amount of vitamins and fat in school lunches their uptake has reduced.  In the country’s largest area, Glasgow, uptake of school lunches has dropped from 61% of pupils to 38% this year, which is mirrored across Scotland.

Managing director of Cordia, the company that prepares school meals to Glasgow schools, has said it is time to look over the policy, which is moving students to choose burger vans and deep-fried pizzas.

Fergus Chambers stated that as the caterers are forced to look at nutritional requirements they are becoming more like chemists and less like cooks, provoking children to look elsewhere for food, which includes unhealthy options.

The drive to follow nutritional requirements began in 2006 when the Scottish Executive passed an initiative that offered options with more nutritional value.

During last year, regulations were put in place that set the minimum levels for key nutrients such as iron, zinc, fibre, and calcium while limiting the amount of total and saturated fat that could be in one meal.  Additionally, pupils must be offered two portions of vegetables and fruit at each meal, with deep-fried food items only on the menu once per week.

Chambers stated that the problem is worse in urban areas where students can easily leave school and find fast food options.

Head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland stated that universal free meals may be the best way to improve the diets of students as they will then take the option handed to them.

A survey from the British Heart Foundation found that nine out of ten mothers did not properly understand the nutritional information regarding children’s foods.

BHF found that most mothers think if a product is labelled as a source of ‘iron, six vitamins, and calcium’ then it is most likely healthy.  Additionally the organization found that the many different labels on the market make if confusing for shoppers to choose the healthiest product.

However, manufacturers claim that their labels are adequate.

According to the BHF survey, 76% of mothers responded that a product that is wholegrain is healthy for their children. Yet, the BHF cited items such as Nestlé’s Honey Shreddies that state they are wholegrain but contain 13.6g of sugar, which is more than a donut.

The BHF also pointed to Kellogg’s Coco Pops, which are labelled to have vitamins, calcium, and iron but also have more sugar and saturated fat than a chocolate cake.

The survey also showed that three out of five respondents surveyed thought that if an item does not contain artificial colourings or flavourings the product is healthy.

Chief executive of BHF, Peter Hollins, said that food manufacturers are tricking mums into thinking that they are choosing great healthy food snacks, but in reality the snacks are high in salt, fat, and sugar.

Hollins added that children suffer if they continue to eat this type of diet over time and that a unified labelling system should be created so that companies are not able to mislead customers with tricky wording.