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28/09/2005
Kelly announces school junk food ban
Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has announced plans to ban junk food from school vending machines at the Labour Party conference.
The ban, which would come into effect from September 2006, would mean that vending machines could no longer sell snacks that are high in fat, salt and sugar, such as crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks. The machines would, instead, have to provide healthy options, such as bottled water and fresh fruit.
Poor quality sausages and burgers are also to be outlawed in schools from next September under the new legislation.
The Education Secretary’s announcement comes ahead of the compulsory nutritional standards due to be announced next week by the School Meals Review Panel.
The panel was established, after television chef Jamie Oliver’s high-profile campaign to improve the quality of school dinners.
The standards are expected to reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar in meals served in school canteens.
The schools inspection body, Ofsted, will monitor the new regulations.
The Conservatives welcomed the Education Secretary’s announcement. Shadow Education Secretary David Cameron described the move as a “positive step”: “We welcome this belated u-turn from Ruth Kelly. At the election ministers rejected Conservative proposals to extend a ban on junk food to vending machines, so this is a positive step.
“However, tighter standards are only part of the solution. They must be backed by sufficient resources for schools to provide the extra staff and kitchen facilities required – two crucial elements which are not being met in many schools.”
Mr Cameron also warned that children who brought packed lunches to schools or left school at lunchtime to purchase junk food posed “significant challenges” for the government.
(KMcA/SP)
The ban, which would come into effect from September 2006, would mean that vending machines could no longer sell snacks that are high in fat, salt and sugar, such as crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks. The machines would, instead, have to provide healthy options, such as bottled water and fresh fruit.
Poor quality sausages and burgers are also to be outlawed in schools from next September under the new legislation.
The Education Secretary’s announcement comes ahead of the compulsory nutritional standards due to be announced next week by the School Meals Review Panel.
The panel was established, after television chef Jamie Oliver’s high-profile campaign to improve the quality of school dinners.
The standards are expected to reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar in meals served in school canteens.
The schools inspection body, Ofsted, will monitor the new regulations.
The Conservatives welcomed the Education Secretary’s announcement. Shadow Education Secretary David Cameron described the move as a “positive step”: “We welcome this belated u-turn from Ruth Kelly. At the election ministers rejected Conservative proposals to extend a ban on junk food to vending machines, so this is a positive step.
“However, tighter standards are only part of the solution. They must be backed by sufficient resources for schools to provide the extra staff and kitchen facilities required – two crucial elements which are not being met in many schools.”
Mr Cameron also warned that children who brought packed lunches to schools or left school at lunchtime to purchase junk food posed “significant challenges” for the government.
(KMcA/SP)
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