Dudley - School Food Labelling Lessons

In order for consumers to make an informed decision about the qualities of a food, they need to understand the information on a food label. Linzi Kernick talks about Dudley Trading Standards project to help with this understanding by teaching consumers, initially of school age (aged 10-13 years old), about food labelling.

The initiative involves Trading Standards Officers going into schools and teaching them about the general requirements of food labelling. ‘Ten rules of food labelling’ are taught and then the pupils produce their own food label implementing the rules they have learned.

Aims and Objectives

Aims of the project were to: o Contribute to the healthy eating priority promoted by the ‘Choosing Health’ White Paper.

Contribute to the Local Area Agreement priority of Healthier Communities: healthy eating
Contribute to the LACORS National Control Strategy to improve information about food health and nutrition.
Improve consumer awareness of the information on food labels.
Highlight the types of durability indications and their meanings to consumers.
Highlight nutritional information to consumers and the ways in which it may be presented. Outcomes of the project were:
A lesson on food labelling suitable for 10-13 year old children, including a group activity whereby the pupils produce their own food label.
All materials to support ‘Powerpoint’ presentation and group activity.
Lesson notes to accompany the lesson
Staff trained to deliver the lesson
Improve partnerships with schools
Improved partnership with Dudley Primary Care Trust, which has continued with the development of the second lesson on nutritional labelling

Partners

Dudley Primary Care Trust

Methodology

The lesson is suitable for mainstream and special needs schools. The bulk of interest, however, is now from Primary Schools. The format of the lesson was to deliver the taught part of the session in 15/20 minutes, the students would then undertake a group activity for up to 25 minutes and finally there would be feedback on the work produced, which would last approximately 5 minutes. During the taught part of the session, the students’ interest is maintained by regularly asking students to find information from a piece of food packaging that is given to each student at the start of the session.

Group activity ‘packs’ containing stationery and a worksheet (sample below) containing instructions for the task, pictures of the food product for which they are to produce a food label, ingredients for the food and some nutritional information for the food are then distributed to each group of students who complete the task. Officers go round the groups supervising their work on this task. Each group’s work is then peer assessed and the group with the most marks are usually awarded house points by the school.

Promotion

Dudley Trading Standards Division employ an Education and Enterprise Officer who already had some contacts with Special Needs schools. However, the session was also advertised at a few schools’ ‘Network meeting’ (a meeting of all local schools), which generated more interest from High Schools and a surprising amount of interest from Primary Schools.

Primary schools have ‘healthy eating’ weeks where the children look at their diet and also cook a healthy meal. Our lesson tied in with the themes promoted during these weeks and it also turned out to be a good idea for the children to make up a food label using the product details and a photograph of the food that they had cooked during their healthy eating week.

Dudley Primary Care Trust have also seen the lesson materials and promote it to schools enquiring with them about food labelling matters.

Resources

Funding: The main funding issues were ensuring officer time for the creation of the lesson and also for the officers required to deliver each session (best to have at least two officers- one speaking and one assisting the students to find information on their packaging).

Staffing: The project has needed one person to create the lesson and materials and to train up staff to deliver the session. Seven members of staff have been trained to deliver the session and assist with the delivery of the session.

Equipment: All schools were equipped with computers and projectors needed for the ‘Powerpoint’ presentation. The lesson also requires lots of empty food packaging for the students as well as the group activity materials. A large suitcase on wheels has been purchased to carry all the equipment.

Evaluation

At the start of each session an ‘evaluation form’ (copy below) is given to the qualified teacher in the class. Comments from these forms have lead to further enhancement of the session and have encouraged the continuation of the session. Success has also been measured by the number of repeat bookings for the sessions and new schools expressing interest.

Lessons Learned

After the lesson, lesson materials and lesson notes were produced, our lessons were first delivered to a school for children with Special Needs. The time limits for these classes were flexible and provided a relaxed atmosphere to hone and adapt the session, whilst also being of benefit to the pupils who were taking part in the local heats of the TSI Consumer Challenge Quiz, which required the students to answer questions on the subject of food labelling in a ‘food’ round. Primary Schools were also flexible on the lesson time slots.

High Schools, however, are much more demanding on time with a strict 50 minute class. Officers need to be able to adapt the delivery of the session to fit in with time slots. Some classes have had to be delivered in less time (eg 35 minutes) due to circumstances beyond our control that arise on the day. It has been a luxury when more time is allocated to the session.

Officers need to be prepared for equipment failure! Though the ‘MS powerpoint’ presentation provides some visual stimulus for the pupils, there has been occasions when the equipment has not worked. Staff, therefore, need to be prepared to deliver the session without the assistance of ‘powerpoint’. Finally, it is also essential to insist on a qualified teacher being present in the classroom to maintain the discipline of the pupils.

Future Developments

The success of the first lesson on general food labelling has already lead to the development of a second lesson expanding on nutritional information on food labels and how consumers can use this information to decide whether or not a food is nutritious. This second session is devised to follow on from the teaching of the first session on general food labelling requirements. A Primary School has already signed up to these lessons explaining that OFSTED had reported seeing too many children eating snack-type food in the playground and that our lesson would help them show that they are contributing to teaching children about healthier lifestyles.

Contact Details

Contact Name: Linzi Kernick

Job Title: Senior Trading Standards Officer

Phone: 01384 814671

Email: linzi.kernick@dudley.gov.uk

Organisation: Dudley Trading Standards Division

Address: 3 St James's Road Dudley DY1 1HR

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