Healthy Lunchboxes
David Brown, Trading Standards Officer in West Sussex explains how he worked with the Council’s Education Service, School Meal contractor – Sodexho and West Yorkshire Scientific Services to examine the nutritional standards of school lunchboxes supplied in the County’s primary schools.
Summary
In 2000 West Sussex County Council Trading Standards became involved in nutritional analysis of school lunch boxes, which were provided by the Council to primary school children instead of a cooked meal. The lunch boxes, which are based on a 2-week menu cycle were delivered to the office, then sent to the Analyst to check that they met levels advised by the DfEE guidelines. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoollunches/downloads/PrimaryMain.pdf The results lead to a factory audit, advice on menu planning and over the course of the 4 years a nutritionally balanced meal for the children.
Project Name: Healthy Lunchboxes in West Sussex
Project Start Date: 2001
Project Location Type: Rural and city
Project Origins and original aims/Objectives and purpose of the project:
In addition to the many usual activities of a trading standards service one officer in West Sussex also has a further role in helping to audit 18 other services within the Council. Bruce Treloar’s, who is, partially funded by these other services, advises on the procurement of goods and equipment by the Council. One of the reasons behind this project was that the Council had recently removed kitchens from primary schools and employed an outside contractor to provide lunchboxes. Many parents were initially worried that their children would not receive nutritionally balanced meals so it was agreed for Trading Standards to work with the Education Service and the school meal provider, Sodexho, to examine the nutritional standard of the meals being provided. This work also linked in well with the trading standards business plan that has a focus on healthy eating.
Organisations Involved:
1. West Sussex Trading Standards Service
2. West Sussex Education Catering Service
3. West Sussex Procurement
4. West Yorkshire Scientific Services
5. Sodexho - School Meal Contractor
Target Audience:
Primary school children.
Methodology:
County Catering Adviser from Education Department first examines the menu choices, with the dietician carrying out a desktop nutritional analysis. Trading Standards, then requests for meals to be delivered to their offices - these arrive in insulated boxes from the contractor as part of their delivery rounds. The meals are then sealed in bags and sent in bulk lots to the Analyst via courier service; here the meals are tested for salt, energy, fat, carbohydrate, and protein levels (macro-nutrients). The results are compared with the DfEE guidelines, the Caroline Walker Trust guidelines and the data provided by the dietician. For a more comprehensive and more expensive test, the micro – nutrients, such as levels of vitamins and minerals can also be checked.
In 2004 it was decided to carry out the more detailed testing and this revealed that it was also important for the contractor to monitor more carefully the quantities of ingredients, for example the amount of margarine being used can dramatically affect the fat levels.
Once the results had been collated Trading Standards carried out an audit of the factory and together with the input of The Education Catering Department worked with the contractor to ensure that the lunchboxes continually meet the nutritional standards.
Funding:
- Education paid for the lunchboxes.
- Trading Standards – @2 days officer time per year
- Analysts Costs (paid by Trading Standards) - £75 per sample or for more extensive testing £300
Recruitment and Other Resources:
All the meals are taken as informal samples, thus a qualified food officer is not necessary however, it is important to have the trading standards food expertise for factory auditing purposes, and have access to a dietician and an Analyst.
Sustainability:
Over the course of the 4 years, the results attached show that the nutritional standards of the meals have continually improved. It has therefore been decided that sampling need only be carried out as and when necessary – for example due to complaints, major changes in menu choice, or change of contractor. (All complaints relating to the lunch boxes are copied via email to David)
Evaluation:
This work has been particularly rewarding since it has helped allay fears by parents that school lunch boxes being provided were not nutritionally balanced. The recent School Lunch Box Survey by the Food Standards Agency (http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/lunchbox2004report.pdf) showed that in many cases
lunches brought from home were in fact higher in saturated fats, sugars and sodium and low in fruit and vegetables. In West Sussex, due to the work of Trading Standards, the contractor and the Education Service, parents can be satisfied that if their children eat the meal being provided that their nutritional needs are being met.
This project was short-listed in the Brindley Medal Awards and published in the Trading Standards Journal. (Volume 111 Issue 10). The Food Standards Agency also used the project as an information source when planning their survey.
Lessons learnt:
David commented that it very important to have good contacts with the Education Service and the Contractor and that the Analyst has access to the DfEE guidelines. As David mentions in his report “The Government sets the standards, Trading Standards can verify these standards and the Education Service can help validate the whole process by working with the children and checking the children actually consume the sandwich meals”. In West Sussex the County Catering Service, (part of Education) send out questionnaires to schools asking for feedback on the meals being provided.
Therese Brook commented “ working in partnership with Trading Standards has help in raising the standard of the lunch box each term and we are delighted that it has won “The Heart Beat Award “ for the fourth year running”
Future Developments:
As previously mentioned sampling need no longer be carried out every year, however monitoring will be carried out when necessary and it is intended for the results to be also fed back to the healthy schools co-ordinators for their use.
If you would like any further information about this case study please feel free to contact David using the details below.
Name: David Brown
Position: Principal Trading Standards Officer
Address:
West Sussex Trading Standards Service
Trading Standards Service
Centenary House
Durrington Lane
Worthing
West Sussex
BN13 2QB
Telephone: 01903 839 731
Email address: david.brown@westsussex.gov.uk
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